


Running From Who We Are.

by Ryuto12



Series: Finish Line. [1]
Category: New Mutants (Comics), The New Mutants (2020)
Genre: Comic characters don't start manifesting until chapter 9 though, Cussing, Dog Jokes, F/F, F/M, Teen Angst, aka just Illyana making fun of Rahne for like 3 minutes straight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:26:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27767464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryuto12/pseuds/Ryuto12
Summary: Now on the run from Essex Corp. The X-Men and the government, along with a strange man looking for Roberto, these new Mutants have to make a quick living.Illyana suggests they sell drugs, but Dani and Rahne tell her no.Poor girls, no sense of style. Tragic.So instead they find themselves pretty much just trying to stay alive and not in another cage again.Told mostly through Rahne and Illyana's p.o.v with a predicted number of 13 chapters, but hey maybe I'll do more or less.
Relationships: Danielle Moonstar/Rahne Sinclair, Roberto da Costa/Illyana Rasputin
Series: Finish Line. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184495
Comments: 18
Kudos: 59





	1. Tracked Down.

Reyes had to be honest in the worst of ways. The next town was really twenty miles away. 

Now, for Rahne and Illyana they seemed to be fine, the first having superhuman abilities, Illyana just being too much of a bad bitch to show any signs of slowing down. 

Sam, seemed to not mind until they hit mile 14. 

Roberto complained by mile 2. 

And Dani was exhausted by mile 13, but like Sam didn't voice it. 

All talking of the future had been banned by Roberto until they found the next town, ate, and then slept. So instead it was mostly stupid childhood stories. The story of Dani falling a river, Rahne failing to learn how to knit, Roberto failing to climb a tree till he was 16, Sam falling in a 3-foot hole when he was 8, and Illyana falling off a rock when she was four and somehow hitting her and being completely fine. 

Dani didn't agree with the: "Yet I was fine," statement. 

Then the conversation had moved to weird things their powers could do. 

Illyana admitted that she'd once been to Hell, and had explained it in very vivid detail to Rahne before any of the others got to the hospital. 

Roberto admitted most of the food he cooked them was fried with his power, instead of their half-functioning stove. 

Rahne decided to admit she could smell their emotions, which weirded everyone out. 

* * *

Now they found themselves in a motel with Reyes' stolen money. 

" Ugh... My feet... " Roberto groaned, flopping onto the bed. 

Illyana rolled her eyes. " Berto, get off your period and stop complaining. " 

Dani snorted. 

He caught the meaning even after Sam and Rahne managed to get it. 

" Really? " Roberto deadpanned. 

" I get it, your boobs are even bigger than Rahne's right now, but seriously? " 

" Keep me out of this. " Rahne groaned, stuffing her bag under she and Dani's bed. 

" We get it, buddy, it's your time of the month, so your emotional, but shut up. " Illyana continued on, laying onto the couch. 

Sam smiled. " You ladies done now? " 

" What?! Why are on the girl's side, Sam?! This is unfair! I'm outnumbered! " Roberto dramatically complained, placing an offended hand onto his chest. 

Dani snickered. " You know what, the side I claim is the first shower. " 

" And I call the right side of the bed. It's really just Illyana and Sam against you, Berto. " Rahne shrugged, hopping onto the bed and fluffing the pillow. 

Illyana rolled her eyes, but reached into her bag. " I found a bag of dog treats in Reye's office. Do you want one Doggy? " 

Rahne huffed, flopped off the bed, into the bathroom and came back out as wolf. The look in her eyes said, "I really don't like you." 

" Oh don't give me that look. Not the first time we've played fetch. " Illyana shrugged, tossing one of the treats in the air. 

_Knock. Knock._

" Shit! " Roberto cursed.

" _Someone was complaining about the ruckus up here. Everything okay kiddos? "_ Came a voice from the other side. " _I'm coming in._ " 

Everyone quickly looked to Rahne, who rushed under Roberto and Sam's bed. 

It was the manager. " Wasn't there... Five of you..? " 

All the four other teenagers cursed in their heads. 

But Illyana got the jump. " Can't Rahne just pray out back in peace? " 

The manager nodded. " Mhm... Well anyway, I got a noise complaint. So, keep it down or I'll have to kick you out. " The man said, before leaving the room and closing the door. 

They all let out a sigh of relief. 

" Just a day and we're already about to be exposed. " Sam weakly chuckled, sitting down next to Roberto on the bed. 

Dani paled. " Dog treats in Illyana's hand wasn't helping. " 

The said girl then tossed them behind the couch without a word as Rahne poked her still wolf head from under the bed. 

She just looked at Illyana for a few seconds before getting out from under it. 

* * *

The second of many hardships would come the next day, when they'd, again with Reyes' stolen money, chosen to eat at a diner. 

" Guys... " Sam suddenly cut their conversation on the best type of meat short, pointing to the tv playing a new report. 

" What? " The others asked, looking over. 

**BREAKING NEWS:** _GROUP OF MUTANTS DESTROY ABANDONED HOSPITAL._

Okay, so apparently a Demon Bear destroying a hospital wall, along with a destroyed chapel, burnt ground from Roberto and Sam, along with the body of Reyes in the wreckage, the Smiley Men all around, and Reverend Craig's body in the ladies room may have been disturbing. And the drawings in Illyana's room. And... the odd center of gravity in the room. And maybe the giant slab of rock Sam used with his powers. And okay, just maybe all the illegal stuff. 

But the next part was more chilling. 

**POSSIBLE SUSPECTS** _: DANIELLE MOONSTAR, SAMUEL GUTHRIE._

" Someone tell me why only me and Dani are up there? " Sam questioned, trying to lighten the mood. 

Illyana scoffed like Sam asked the most stupid question in the world. " Were not legally in this country. By law, I'm in Russia, Roberto is in Brazil, and Rahne is in Scotland. " 

" They'll find our files eventually. " Rahne noted, continuing to stare at the tv. 

Dani gulped. " But that'll be the cops job that you guys aren't legal. Not the X-Men's. " 

" Fuck. " Everyone but Rahne cursed.

_X-MEN ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THESE MUTANTS IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL._

* * *

Illyana teleported into their room, grabbed their stuff, teleported back, Roberto hot-wired a car and they got out of there as fast as possible. 

But in the middle of driving, he suddenly slammed the brakes as hard as possible. 

" What the heck man..? " Sam groaned, clutching his gut from hitting the dash. 

Roberto gulped. " Him. " 

Their was a man, who didn't look human, standing in front of the car. He had red spikes coming from his head, and his eyes were bulging from his head, which let them know they were also a fired up red.

Rahne squinted, her none-human eyesight letting her spot something.

" He's Dessex Corp. " 

She could see the button on his leather jacket. 

" Well that got heated quick. " Illyana sarcastically commented. " Let me handle him. " 

That apparently wasn't happening, because they all got out of the car. 

" Один шанс, uma chance, aon chothrom, one chance. " 

Illyana resisted rolling her eyes, knowing it was a a bad idea. " Stupid, the three of us know English. " 

" Well, that makes this easier. You have one chance to come with me peacefully. " The man said. " I'm asking nicely. " 

Roberto scoffed. " Fat chance, screw off. " 

" We're just trying to help. You kids don't have control yet. Let us help, let yourselves learn how. " 

Illyana suddenly disappeared. 

" Oh come on! Right now?! " Sam complained, getting a quick glimpse to the time in the hospital she did the same thing. " Convenient time! " 

" _My_ _fiance_... " Roberto mumbled, from his wrists to the tips of his fingers, along with around his eyes, lighting up. 

Rahne, with her better hearing, would've questioned it if she wasn't apparently the only one taking this seriously. 

The man sighed, and it was now evident he had pyrokinesis, as his entire body lit into flames. 

You know, until a glowing blue sword stabbed him right in the back. Right threw his heart to be exact. 

He dropped dead in seconds. 

" The hell did you go?! " Sam shouted, his southern accent more prominent than usual. 

Illyana rolled her eyes, the sword and her armor vanishing as she walked back over to her _~~not~~_ friends. " I wasn't gonna make one of you do it. " She said, hopping into the front seat. " I call shotgun. Sam get in the back with the dog and Dani. " 

And she wasn't.

She wouldn't make Sam, Roberto and Rahne have to kill someone again. Dani had even done it, as it was her bear that gobbled up Dr.Reye's, though she wasn't even awake and didn't see it happen. 

She knows the boys didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident for them.

She'd seen the brand on Rahne's back, and since they were the first two there before Sam, Berto and Dani, she'd learned how Rahne got it. Even if it was outright self-defense, she knew Rahne felt guilty. 

Illyana refused to make her _~~not~~_ friends ever kill someone again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \----BONUS----
> 
> " Oh and don't worry Berto, I'll think it over. " 
> 
> " You heard that? " 
> 
> " Yep. " 
> 
> Roberto really wanted to drive this car off a cliff now. 


	2. Blame.

As wanted criminals on the run now, they all needed something to lighten the mood.

Sams idea? Dumb stories. 

  
" And so, when I was was four, I got bit by a dog. And then when I was seven, I got bit by another one. Been deathly afraid since. " Roberto admitted, his eyes carefully stuck on the road. 

" I don't know if I should take offense to that. " Rahne commented from her placement between Sam and Dani, since she overall just took up less space. 

Roberto chuckled. " _That's,_ where I'm going with this. So you can imagine. Fresh off the teenage list, 18 year old Roberto goes off to a mystical hospital to control the sun itself. There's two girls, ones hot, tall and blonde, the others a really cute redhead and she's nice. I'm living it up in here. But you know what? Hot, tall, and blonde? She's deadly, and not in a sexy way. So I have to move on, you know mourn the death of our never existing relationship, and move on. I move on to really cute redhead that's nice. She's amazing, but you know what? I find out she's literally a wolf. Terrified in my 3,000 dollar shoes, I move on. " 

" Was that before or after you found out she was gay? " Illyana commented. 

Roberto gave Illy a look. " So I get past these girls, you know, hot, tall, blonde and really cute redhead that's nice. I find this scruffy looking boy with a cast. And that's the end of this story. " 

Sam gasped. " Oh no it isn't! " He laughed. " Why am I in this?! " 

" I didn't say names. " 

Dani smirked. " Oh yeah? Because really cute redhead that's nice, matches a very good description to someone I know. And a wolf? Hm... If I ever met a girl like that, I think I'd be into her. "

Illyana leaned her seat back as far as possible, pretty much crushing Dani. 

" Ow. " 

" Keep flirting and I'm sending you both to Limbo for the day. Okay forest animals? " 

" Forest animals..? " 

" It's a wolf and a bear. It's just common sense, Berto. " Illyana shrugged, rocketing the seat back up. " Now I know what Sams like. " She remarked. 

Roberto groaned. " Your turn Illy. " 

The blonde girl shrugged. " I have nothing to tell that won't make you piss yourselves. " 

" Oh come on, you have to have something, " Roberto insisted. 

Illyana gave in. " Fine, I have an older brother named Piotr. " 

Roberto slapped his hand on the wheel. " Out of us all, you'd be the one with a sibling. " 

Illyana laughed. " Yeah? In another universe you have an X-Man doppelganger. Actually, we all do, Berto's is just more real. " 

" I'm sorry, wha-? "

All the others looked at Illyana like she was a ghost. 

" But that isn't this story. Maybe we'll be something else. " Illyana shrugged. " Now pay attention to the road. Sams turn. " 

Sam shrugged. " Well... There was this one time... I walked in on Reyes getting dressed, by my like fourth day at the hospital. Apparently, I hadn't been listening when Rahne showed me around, because I thought it was one of the common rooms. " 

Roberto shook his head. " Old lady your type buddy? " 

Then Sam realized something.

" Why am I the only single one in this car? " 

Roberto clicked his tongue. " Dani and Rahne are dating. Me and Illy are complicated. " 

" _Complicated_. " Dani repeated in a teasing tone. " I think that's called hooking up with feelings attached. " 

Illyana rolled her eyes and Roberto groaned. 

" If that's your opinion, your up next bear. " Illyana stated like a fact. 

" Fair. There was a group of kids my age when I was like 8, who wanted to hang out. So we did, and eventually, the conversation got to climbing trees. Now you see, thinking I'm straight eight year old me, decides to try it because there was this one boy who I think was named Jamie. Fell out, totally landed on Jamie. Never spoke to him again. I was to shy. " 

" Certainly weren't shy when you and Rahne made out in the graveyard. " Sam said, the smirk evident in his voice. 

Illyana looked back at the two now blushing, _bright_ red, girls. " What's he talking about? " 

" Oh you know, the night my ears picked up and Roberto doing... _That,_ in the pool. " Rahne shot back, trying to push the blame over. 

Roberto heated up. " Now you see, technically, it didn't happen. She left, Dani's power got me, you two still made out, then we all yelled, then we went to bed. " 

" Was the night your balls _finally_ dropped and you got at Reyes. " Illyana sarcastically added in. 

Roberto snorted. " You know, Dani's there for just only four days. And you know, we have seen our greatest fears, but one of us conquered it, the other three of us talked about it in a healthy way, two hooked up, two made out, _and Sam's still single._ All sounds good to me. " 

"...Sorry about that. " 

Roberto slowed the car. " Serious conversation time. " He said, turning around in his seat. " We don't blame you for what we saw. " 

" Yeah. As I said, we're not afraid of you. We're afraid of what we saw. Of _them_. " Rahne comforted, giving Dani a quick peck to the cheek. 

Sam shrugged. " Made us talk about it. Probably better for our health anyway. " 

Illyana chuckled. " Dani, what they mean, is that you shouldn't do what they've done to themselves. Rahne's words to you? Actually mine. " 

" Wait what? " 

" I was the first one there. Then Rahne showed up a few years later. Guilt stricken wolf here, I gave some words, then it was all good. Those words weren't even mine to be real. " 

Rahne quirked her brow. " Archer? Or Blake? " 

" Riley. " Illyana corrected.

" Who? " Roberto wondered aloud. 

Illyana facepalmed. " Not about the people before us. " She slapped Roberto's arm. " Anyway, back on track. On one my first weeks there, I got scared. I hated being alone in the dark. Lost control of my powers, hurt someone, her name was Riley. Told me not to fear my own powers, because I couldn't control them. _The unknown shouldn't scare you,_ she said. Few years later..." 

Illyana, despite being a cold-hearted bitch, still looked to Rahne for confirmation to speak of the subject. It was touchy. 

She got a nod. 

" Guilt stricken wolf appears. Archer, Blake, and Nathan are gone, so there's really nothing keeping me and Rahne from each other's throats. Did you know me and Rahne are the reason Reyes made a rule about no fighting? " 

" I'm sorry, what? " Sam said, utterly shocked by that.

Illyana made sense, but Rahne? A fighter? Nonsense. 

" Anyway, we'd been in lockdown for two months. Doggy was irritable not being able to run around, and I was overall just hating Reyes more than usual. We got at each others throats, I decided we should full-on fight. And I didn't really give Rahne a choice when I just kinda Soulsworded her. She shifts so I don't kill her, then we fight, then redhead I won't name loses control. I got the scar to prove it. " 

The other three found there eyes to the spoken of redhead. 

" Is that true? " 

" Yep. " Illyana then lifted up her shirt a few inches, showcasing a faded scar that was very cleary in the shape of wolf claws. 

" Never knew Rahne was a fighter. " Roberto couldn't help commenting.

" Yeah. Happens sometimes, when I can't control it properly. " Rahne shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. 

Roberto snorted. " Welp, that aside, were kinda being tracked, so I'm gonna keep driving now. " 

" Бля да, to that. " Illyana decided.

The others had no idea what she said. 

* * *

They ended up sleeping in the car. 

Rahne ended up on the back floor in wolf form, her head ever so softly resting on Dani's thigh. 

Illyana tipped that seat back like if she didn't Limbo would freeze over. 

Sam politely made space for Rhane, Dani and Roberto, scooting as far over as he could.

And Roberto only slightly tipped his seatback. Because, in his own words: "I'm rich, I can accomplish anything. My neck won't hurt in the morning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the film, I got this feeling between Illyana and Rahne that there was something odd between them that definitely didn't fit romance. 
> 
> Also, it's also sorta an easter egg to know who got there and when.
> 
> In the cafeteria scene: Reyes has all the kids numbered.
> 
> Illyana is 199, Rhane is 200, Sam is 201, Roberto is 202, and Dani is 203. 
> 
> And from what Rhane says about when she got her powers, she was about 13. Illyana mentions that Dani's 16, so we can infer Rhane and Dani may be the same age. Therefore: Rhane will have been there for 3 years, and Illyana even longer.
> 
> In a deleted scene, we learn Roberto has been there for 5 months when Dani gets there. With that, we know Sam got there sometime between 5 months and three years ago.
> 
> I paid way to much attention to this movie. 
> 
> Also, these Archer, Blake, Nathan, and Riley kids were just supposed to be a reminder. There were 198 kids who didn't escape. In the chapel graveyard are graves with numbers instead of names. That implies something.


	3. Tame.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids have a fun time on the run, meanwhile, someone else finds the relief of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally edited the image.

Sam woke up to the weirdest thing yet. Which said a lot, seeing his choices in life. 

A burning smell.

Metal...

Flesh...

 _Coal._

The last of which made the boy stiffen.

It was all of them at once.

It was Dani's power.

The metal smell was Illyana. 

The flesh was Rahne and Roberto. 

The coal...

 _Not real. Not real. Not real. Not real. Not real._ Sam repeated to himself a few times, snapping his eyes shut. 

It happened long before for each of them.

It wasn't real anymore.

But it was. 

Luckily for the teenagers though, it was just the smell. Reverand? No. Mine? No. Girlfriend? No. 

Then what was the metal for...

_Tap._

For one of the best accomplishments of Samuel Guthrie's life, he did not scream, he did not yell, he did not jump.

Until he did.

Okay, terrified as he was, this entity couldn't be. 

A cross, mining hat, and purse weren't scary. 

But it was their four fears together. 

Whatever Illyana's was, because she'd conquered the Smiley Men, it was probably in there somewhere. 

" _Murdering children..._ " The entity sang. 

Sam couldn't even bring himself to jump, yell or try to wake anyone up.

He just stared. 

What even was this thing? It wasn't a single fear of theirs. It was at a minimum his own, Rhane's and Roberto's. And maybe Illyana's was in there somewhere. 

He'd seen pictures of Roberto's girlfriend. It was her purse.

The mining hat was... Sam knew where it was from.

The cross necklace? The same Rhane had actually. 

" _Murderers..._ " The entity again sang, this time moving from Sams back seat window to Roberto's driver seat window. 

And that was the last straw.

Sam would take anything the world tossed at him, and not even try fighting it. He didn't deserve to be treated so good.

The other four people in this car did. 

" _Everybody wake up!_ " He yelled, making Illyana hurl upward smack her head into the dash, which would be funny if the adrenaline hadn't just kicked in. Roberto bolted up, and smacked his chest into the wheel.

Wolf Rhane was up in moments, her ears perking up for any sound, her head turning in rapid directions, looking around. 

And Dani also shot up right, looking around. 

When they all saw what Sam had been seeing for god knows how long, many a minute, 10 or even an hour, he didn't care, they all screamed. 

_Actually,_ Rhane _barked._

" _Killers... "_

Roberto swung that door open fast enough Sam wouldn't have been shocked if it flew off. 

Roberto was also quick to ignite his fists, which caused his eyes to also flare. And with a strong solar-powered right hook, the entity flew back into a tree before exploding. 

Then Roberto collapsed back into the driver seat, the quick adrenaline rush fading.

A good five minutes passed before anyone got their bearings in order.

...

Then Illyana asked the elephant in the car.

" Who's was that? " 

" Not mine. " Was the collective response.

"...Then what the fuck was it? " 

* * *

They'd stopped at the gas station to get some gas, because fun fact: cars don't run without in. And they weren't gonna push it, that defeated the purpose of the car. 

Roberto didn't trust himself near it. He got too hot? _Boom_. 

And while an introvert by inclination, Rahne may have been the only person at least 8% capable of keeping Dani and Illyana from killing each other, so she went in with them. 

But of course, either way, Dani and Sam needed to keep their heads low. 

Which is why Sam jumped when he got tapped on the shoulder. 

A man, dark hair, light eyes, black suit with a light blue and white striped tie. About 6 feet, so about Sam's height. He guessed possibly British. 

" Can I help you..? " He wearily asked, squinting at the man. 

The man had a sly grin that would alarm anyone. Thank god Sam wasn't Illyana. " Ah, yes, I was just wondering, " he pulled out a flier. " Have you seen this boy around? About 6 feet, Brazilian, dark hair, dark eyes, pretty muscular. " 

Berto.

" No I-I haven't, sorry. " Sam lied through his teeth. 

Rahne even lied better than he did, though, so it was pretty garbage. 

The nodded, patting Sam's shoulder a few times. " Well, thank you for your time lad. " 

" Yeah, no problem. " 

* * *

While Illyana and Roberto could both drive, Sam trusted himself to far more than his friends who barely got a crash course in English by a crazy doctor. Despite the fact they could both very fluently speak it, and you'd never know they were from Russia and Brazil if they didn't tell you. 

To which Roberto just shrugged and didn't mind, while Illyana said: "Хочешь драться с Кентукки?" Which still, no one knew what she said. They only got, 'Kentucky,' out of it. Illyana apparently had a great time making fun of them all in Russian, because they couldn't respond. 

Which started this stupid game: Roberto and Illyana cursing each other out in different langauges. And every once in a while, Rahne would add-in, or Sam with his half-finished Spanish class words. 

" Ты хочешь драться, а, девственница? " Illyana scoffed. 

" Você sabe que me quer. " Roberto replied. 

" Carson a tha an dithis agaibh mar seo? " Rahne groaned. 

Then it hit Sam.

" I don't wanna brake this up, I get we need to keep the mood light, but I got something to say. " 

Silence followed.

" Well? " Illyana asked, impatient as ever. 

" Some guy at the station was looking for Roberto. " 

This time the silence was ache worthy. 

* * *

" So let's recount the week. " Illyana said, kicking her feet up on the dash. 

" Wait what-? " 

" New girl shows up, Rahne's a glorified savior of new girl, our greatest fears haunt us, we learn Reyes is a crazy, attic, solitary, Reyes dies, Demon Bear, Roberto isn't dressed, the X-Men and Dessex Corp. want us, we hotwire a car, men in black wants Roberto and and an entity of four different fears in one exists. Fun week, right? " 

Everyone blinked. 

"...Yeah, fun. " 

And in a rare moment of intelligence, because Roberto was the dumbest of the five, he had a realization. 

" Dessex wanted to make killers out of us, but... Why would they need our blood for that? " 

Dani, Sam, Rahne and Roberto all blinked in realization. What did they need it for? 

Illyana groaned. They wouldn't survive without her. 

" The blood of a Mutant can be injected into others to give them similar, if not the same exact powers. Thier called 'Mutates,' alright? Keeping up with me? " 

"...Should we be concerned you know that? " 

" Alternate dimensions. " 

* * *

Needing to stop smelling each other, and lighten the mood, they parked the car off the side of the road, got out, and sat on some rocks after lighting a fire with Roberto's help. 

And Illyana had this stupid idea for a game. Group truth or dare. Everyone but the one who said the truth or dare, had to do it. 

Stupidly enough, they agreed. 

Sam went first.

" How many people have you ever been with, or had a crush on? " Was his amazing truth question. 

Illyana smiled. " Никто по моей воле, because me and Berto, are, _complicated._ " She decided to mock. 

" Um e outro com complicações. " Roberto shrugged.

" English. " Sam reprimanded. 

" One, another that's complicated. " 

Illyana nodded. " Yes it is. Your turn forest animals. " 

Dani facepalmed. " Crush on that Jamie boy when I was eight, crush on a girl named Heather, then Rahne's the end of that story. " She quickly admitted. 

" Alright. Dogs turn. " 

" Just Dani. But for a while... " Rahne covered her face with her hands. " IhadacrushonSamwhenIfirstmethim."

That took a long few moments for the others to decipher. 

Sam was gonna say something, but as usual Illyana couldn't bite her tongue.

" And then she found out she was gay. " 

Rahne groaned and peeked between her fingers. " Pretty much. " 

Next was Illyana's turn. Which everyone should know is a dumb idea. An outright stupid one. 

Worst choice of their lives and that said a lot seeing what they'd chosen to do in life. 

* * *

" Hey! I found something! " Kitty shouted, waving her arm as she phased out of the ground. " Some files! " 

In turn, the first two she got were Colossus and Negasonic, but for the fact she liked first names, Piotr and Ellie. 

Angsty-no-longer-a-teenager-who-likes-to-multitask, grabbed two from her arms and somehow managed to flip them both open with one hand each. 

" Just the two we already knew, Moonstar and Guthrie. " Then Ellie grabbed the other one and again flipped it open with one hand. " Ohhhh, this ones for a girl named Rahne Sinclair. Pretty much just a wolf. " 

Kitty rolled her eyes at the still angsty adult who felt more like a teenager than usual today. 

Then she handed one to Piotr and opened the last one. 

" Roberto Da Costa... Hm... Solar absorbtion, huh, interesting. " 

Piotr dropped the file in his hands. 

_Name: Illyana Rasputin - Magik._

" Something wrong? " Ellie asked, quirking her brow. 

_" She's alive. "_

" Well this is fun. One of these kids, who may be working for Dessex Corp. is Piotr's sister. That's great. " 

And while that was sarcastic, there was actual good news. They had suspects for the destruction of the hospital, along with an idea where the kids would be. And a nice report to hand the news. 

They predicted they'd be able to find those kids in just a few days. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translate the last line Illyana has in Russian. It's more important than it'd seem. That Illyana angst will get there. And I won't hit it with anything but a direct hit from a truck.
> 
> I'm also poking with a 90 foot pole how powerful Illyana really is. 
> 
> You can be strong like Erik and Dani, but they have a rival with practically limitless potential for what they can do, being Illyana and Charles, you got get really smart with how to fight them. 
> 
> Example: Build a helmet. 
> 
> She's been to hell, she's seen the original timeline with how Berto was a Free Mutant, she's seen the world which would detail the comics, and she's been god knows else where.  
> But the trick of it is, with big flashy orange bubble by Reyes, she's only gotten glimpes of these alternate worlds, not the full thing yet. 
> 
> Just wait till I kinda just explode her powers.


	4. "We call it affection."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, everything is getting better before it's getting worse.
> 
> That's new.

Roberto checked his probably 999,999,999,999,999.999$ dollar watch in the midst on their conversation. " Oooooh, spooky. It's midnight... "

Illyana always liked jumping her chances to mess with Rahne. " And a full moon... Seems like fate, Rahne. "

" Did you really just try telling me to howl at the moon? "

" Are you going to do it? "

The other three stared with interest.

" Either howl at it or your saying fuck. " 

" Illy, I'm Catholic. " 

" _Choose_. " 

Dani, Roberto, and Sam all felt like they were watching a real-life Korean drama. 

" Vote on it. There's five of us, two options. " Roberto offered. 

The others lit like wildfire.

" Howl. " Rahne decided.

" Fuck. " Illyana objected. 

" Howl. " Dani agreed.

" Fuck. " Roberto didn't like that.

Everyone looked to Sam.

The cast boy blinked. " What were we talking about again? " 

Dani lost herself with laughter, Roberto and Illyana said fuck enough times that every Da Costa ever would be broke if they had a swear jar, and Rahne just sat there. 

" Alright match made in Hell, I'm getting you both back for this. " Illyana grumbled, narrowing her eyes at Rahne and Dani.

Sam _smirked._ " Their nicknames are more interesting by the day. First forest animals now match made in Hell. Where's the logic behind this one? " 

" As we all so politely learned, Rahne somehow manages to smell your emotions. And Dani can dig in your head for whatever she wants. Dangerous stuff. " Illyana explained, shrugging as if this were common knowledge. 

" It's not _whatever I want._ It's just fears. " Dani rolled her eyes.

Illyana again shrugged. " I mean, who knows, we learn new things every day. The dog can smell emotions and I can see entirely different realities, life be weird like that. " She said, some of her slightly bad English habits kicking in.

You couldn't exactly blame Roberto and Illyana when they didn't know the proper variation on '2' that they needed to put in a sentence. 

" Actually I believe instead of, _be,_ it's actually _is._ Right guys? " Roberto asked, trying to look cool because he knew English better. 

" It can be said either way. " Dani shrugged, with a ever so slight smirk. 

" Yeah, that wasn't witty, Berto. " Rahne facepalmed. 

" Droga. " Roberto cursed. 

" Не умеющий проигрывать достойно. " Illyana remarked with a smirk. 

Sam groaned, " back to this again? Seriously? " 

" _We never left it._ " 

" And _we're_ the match made in Hell. At least we don't have perfectly in sync sentences. " 

Illy shot her a look. " Quiet down there bear if you'd like to make it to hibernation season. " 

Dani tapped her chin, seemingly deep in thought. " I think that's the nicest death threat you've ever given me. Kinda freaking me out. Are you sick Illyana? " 

And then as if Dani truly had a death wish, she rose to her feet, walked to Illyana, and with a _smirk,_ placed her hand upon her forehead. 

She gasped. 

" Oh my God your not sick! You were genuinely being nice! " She snapped her hand back like it'd been burned. 

The other's laughed.

Illyana rolled her eyes. " I'm not _that_ bad. " 

" Have you met yourself? " 

" Quiet down there virgin. " 

Roberto paled as Sam grinned as if he'd just got the best news ever.

" Virgin, eh, Berto? " 

" Yeah, well you probably are too! " 

" Small town in Kentucky, I knew _all_ the girls. " 

" Ew! " Roberto felt like he was gonna throw up. 

" Not to mention all the guys-- " 

" Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! " 

Sam waved it off, " oh don't worry, I'll stop for now, tell you about my cousins later. " 

" Please tell me your joking. " 

...

"Kentucky. " 

...

" Sam. " 

...

" Samuel. " 

...

" Samuel Guthrie! " 

Sam doubled over laughing. " I'm kidding, calm down! " 

Roberto let out a sigh of relief. 

" Well that was fun. " 

" I'm really starting to think your sick, Illy, you feeling well? " Dani teased, again putting her hand to Illyana's forehead.

_" It's okay kiddo. Just stay still. "_

_" Leave me alone. "_

_" Go away. "_

_  
__" My snowflake... "_

_" I'm not your little snowflake Pio! "_

_" Yes you are! My adorable little sister is a_ snowflake! _"_

_" No I'm not! "_

_" Piotr, stop bullying Illy, and get over here, I need help. "_

_" But Mik, she's my little snowflake! "_

_" No no. "  
_

_" But-- "_

_" She's_ our _little snowflake. "  
_

_" Not you to Mik! "_

_" Me too, Illy, me too. "_

_" I'll come back and visit as much as possible! K, snowflake? "_

_" Stop calling me that! "_

_" Snowflake! Snowflake! Snowflake! Snowflake! Snowflake! Snowflake! Snowflake! "_

_" She'll probably end up just like her brothers, can we really keep her Nikolai? "_

_" Alexandra, she's our daughter... But... I think your right. "_

_" Mommy? Daddy? "_

_" Let me go! "_

_" My lord, this ones a fighter! "_

_" Your parents, your brothers, the four of them are never coming back. "_

_" Your alone, kiddo. "_

_" **You have no one**. "_

Dani stumbled backward and fell on her rear, while meanwhile, Illyana doubled over like she just got punched in the gut. 

Roberto, San, and Rahne were all very concerned. 

" You guys okay..? " 

Dani stared with wide eyes. " Illyana, what the hell was that? " 

" It was none of your business. " Illyana then got up and walked off somewhere into the trees.

* * *

" Look, Berto, I don't wanna talk abo-- " 

" Wrong guy. " 

Illyana didn't even spare a glance back. " What do you want Sam? " 

" Nothing, to be honest. But wandering off alone, no matter how strong you are, is a horrible idea for the five of us. " 

" I like being alone. " Illyana objected, staring up at the stars. 

" Do you? " Sam asked, flopping on the ground near Illyana. 

Illyana shook her head. " I have Lockheed, I've never technically alone. " 

" About that. " Sam began. " He's actually real. When you fought the bear, I saw him, he flew. Or was I genuinely seeing things? " 

" He is. Locky's real. If I want him to be, he is. If I don't, he is not. " 

" Okay cool, I'm not just seeing things. " Sam breathed a sigh of relief. " Thought I was losing it for a second there. " 

" Well... " Illyana just let that go for Sam's imagination. 

" Don't be harsh right now, you were being extra nice a while ago. " 

" That was a while ago. " 

For a few moments, Sam conteplated what to say.

" Can I see? " 

" Huh? " 

" Lockheed, can I see him? Like, chirpy flying little dragon? " 

Illyana looked away, staring at the dirt beneath them. " Why do you want to? " 

" If something matters to you, then it matters to the rest of us. " 

Illyana huffed, pulling Lockheed from her back pocket. " Локки. " 

It was a noticeable change. Lockheed had scales, legs, and real eyes.

The small creature yawned, as it peeked open it's eyes to see his life long friend. Then he saw Sam and narrowed his eyes, which were the same as Illyana's when she used her powers. 

" That's Sam, Locky, you know, the cannonball guy. " 

The purple dragon perked up at the name 'Sam.' Clearly, the dragon had heard good things from Illyana. He then chirped, which sounded quite like a bird squawk, and flew over to Sam, landing in his lap. 

Lockheed then began to profusely lick at Sam's hand like a dog, as his tail wagged happily. 

" What'd you tell him about me? " 

" Not me. Lockheed has a good judge of character. " 

" That was _very_ close to a compliment, Illy. " 

" For Lockheed, maybe. " Illyana defended, snarky as always. 

That was good, she was back to normal now. Okay, this is better now. 

" Sure. " Sam said, beginning to pet Lockheed, who instantly enjoyed the affection. 

" Как душа, тело может вспыхнуть. " Illyana said, as from her left hand spawned a ball of fire. " Say that again? " 

" Nope, I'm good. " Sam froze.

" Wise choice. " 

The dragon made a noise of complaint when Sam briefly stopped giving him affection. 

Illyana chuckled, banishing the flame to Limbo, she could find some purpose for it in there later. " He likes you. " 

" You think so? " 

" Yeah. " 

* * *

" ILLY! " Roberto exclaimed, jumping from his rock the moment Sam and Illyana got out of the tree line.

Right before he could hug her, Illyana teleported right behind him, so he faceplanted. 

" Ow. " 

" Don't touch me. " Illyana told him, smirking at the fallen boy, while also being dead serious about that. 

" But the other night in the pool-- " 

" But the other night in the pool, Dani and Rahne were also making out, while Sam watched Reyes with pride. Weird stuff was happening that night. " 

" Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew... " Sam mumbled, shuddering at the very thought. " Ew. " 

" We weren't making out. " Rahne defended. 

" Yeah, you weren't making out, and I'm a virgin. " 

" Wait what? I was gonna be the one?! " Roberto exclaimed, hopping to his feet. 

Illyana facepalmed. " No, Berto, no you weren't. " 

" Aw-- " 

" Wait a second, I was gonna be yours? " 

Roberto scratched the back of his head. " Maybe. " 

Illyana blinked.

" Oh my God, I was going to be your first time. " 

" Maybe-- " 

" Don't _maybe_ me. " 

Roberto put up his arms in defense. " Yes ma'am. " 

Illyana nodded, but then turned her attention to Dani, who'd be oddly silent. " And you, you've gotten in my head three times, do it four, and I have full rights to cut your head from your neck. " 

" Illy-- " 

" Shut up Sam, I didn't say I'd _do it,_ just said I might. " 

Dani breathed a sigh of relief. " Oh good, she's back to normal, her death threats sound real now. " She took a deep breath. " She's doing being nice, okay guys, she's okay! " 

" I am _not_ that bad. " 

" Yeah sure, and your not that bad, Berto is poor, Rahne isn't religious, Sam never gets hurt, and I'm white. " 

Illyana nodded. 

" Okay, I see your point. " 

* * *

" On the road to grandmother's house we go~ " Berto sang from the backseat, snapping his fingers for a beat. 

" Shut up or I'm burning you alive~ " Illyana sang right back, glaring from the passanger seat. 

" You can't burn me anyway~ " 

" You've never seen the volcano's in Limbo. " 

Roberto gasped. " Did you just offer a vacation? " 

" New question, can anyone else actually enter Limbo? " Sam wondered aloud, just wanting to know. " You know, besides you and Lockheed. " 

Illyana laughed. " Haha, if I plan on scaring them or killing them, then yes. I mean, I did it to Dani-- "

" When? " Rahne questioned.

" Not important, you were passed out at the time. " Illyana waved her off. " Dani's a freak a nature, anyone else would have died. If your in Limbo, I want you dead. " 

" Wait you wanted to kill me?! " Dani was shocked. 

" I thought the intention was pretty clear, yes. " 

" So... I'm cool because I lived..? " 

" Sure, either way at the time you'd have been my 19th kill. If we're talking now though, you'd be, including all the Smiley Men I hacked up, the 23rd. " 

" Should I be... Proud of this, or something? " 

" Yes indeed, because no one has ever survived in Limbo. " 

" You were really going to kill me. " 

" I thought I made that obvious. " 

* * *

" I'm still upset you tried to kill me. " Dani snorted, as she clearly wasn't, and was now milking the joke like a cow. 

Illyana tossed a book at Dani, which she ducked under, and Rahne grabbed mid-air. 

" Who in the world tosses a bible? " 

" Apparently me. " Illyana shrugged, not even knowing that's what it was. 

She _spoke_ English. She could not _read_ English. 

Sam flopped onto the couch, while Roberto flopped onto the hotel room bed. 

" Illy, let's cuddle. " 

" Wait what? " 

" It's called affection. " 

" What of, 'don't touch me,' do you not understand? " 

" I mean, neither of us speaks English fluently enough to let Sam have us drive. " 

Sam pulled his cap onto his face to hide it. " Neither of you can read. " 

" So? We've done more dangerous things. " 

" Somehow, making our fears become real, a wolf, shooting off like a cannonball, becoming the sun, and becoming a Sorceress, don't scare me as much as you two driving. " 

" Us, in a car, scares you more than me igniting it, and Illyana going go full badass? " 

" Yes. " 

" Okay. So, anyway, Illy, about those cuddles- " 

" It's still a no. " 

* * *

" I used to think Illyana was a good liar. " Sam commented, watching on with amusement, Dani, and Rahne right by his side. 

" Three years and I've never seen her fail so miserably with her lies. " Rahne clicked her tongue. 

" I never knew Berto was such a good salesman. " Dani remarked, staring at the sight with a smirk.

Roberto and Illyana were _definitely_ cuddling. 

Illyana had her head tucked against Berto's chest, with his chin atop her head, and both of them had their arms around each other. 

" Should we wake them up? " 

" Nah, let them figure it out on their own when they wake up. " 

Sam snorted. " Never knew you could be so sly, Rahne. " 

" Neither did I. I guess we don't really know a lot about each other, but hey, we've all the time in the world to find out now. " 

" Yeah, yeah we do. " 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, it was definitely Illyana who told Lockheed good things about Sam, but that doesn't mean she'll EVER tell the Kentucky boy that.
> 
> Как душа, тело может вспыхнуть = like the soul the body may blaze.
> 
> Oh and yeah, trust me, the angst will get there. I'm just gonna let it sizzle on the grill ti'll it burns.


	5. Defying Expectation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Essex plays peek a boo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I did the image myself.

" So, you got a seven? " 

" Go fish, Nate. " 

" Dang Archie, it's almost as if you're messing the deck up. Hm. " 

" Really? So interesting. " 

" I'm shuffling next time. " 

_Get your heads in the game, or they'll get away again._

" Hey, Nate, my ear makes noise. " 

" That's generally what it does, Archie. " 

_Shut up, nine o'clock, S, M, G, the three of them. Play cool._

" And where's R, DC? " 

_None of my damn business, I don't know. Figure it out, Glitch Boy._

" Stop calling him that, you'll feed his ego. " 

" Shut up, Nate, I'm going to the bathroom. " 

" Sure you are. I believe that as far as I could throw you. " 

* * *

Illyana was abruptly woken up by something disturbing her. 

And no, it wasn't snoring.

Though that was a cause for concern, and got a much worse reaction out of her than what awoke her. 

Arm around her, chin on top of her head. 

Red flags all around. 

Yellow and green flags ceased to exist in a moment of panic. 

And being a Mutant, quick dramatic increases of emotion, brought along a fat spike in Psionic energy, so it wasn't shocking when whoever it was flew off the bed and hit the floor with a thud.

" Ow! " 

_Oh._

It was _Berto._

Illyana rapidly sat up to see the boy lying there like a potato. 

" Ow... Why did you do that..? Was it too creepy to watch you sleep..? I'm sorry... " 

Okay, that was the third red flag, that crept anyone out even if they didn't have Illyana's past that she'd rather keep locked in a chest buried in the Mariana Trench. 

Illyana sighed in relief, it was just Roberto, everything was okay. They'd apparently started cuddling in their sleep, which was something to probably be buried beneath the waves of the Bermuda Triangle.

" You creepy motherfucker. " Illyana decided on, sitting up and resting her head against the wall as her powers faded. 

He didn't need to know why she was actually so panicked about what just happened. 

No one did. 

* * *

" Thanks for waking us up. " 

Sam bit down on some bacon. " Your welcome. " 

" Sarcasm Sam, sarcasm. " 

" I know. " 

Roberto huffed as he sat down at the table, while meanwhile, Illyana kidnapped a chair from another table to join them. 

" So, Dani, Illyana, what's the agenda? " Roberto asked, picking at some eggs. 

Sam snorted. " Why would you ask both of them? Their so conflicting and different, plus they have _willingly tried_ to kill each other. " 

" Exactly. They're exact opposites, therefore, they'd have entirely different ideas, and the three of us can vote which one is greatest. " 

Sam facepalmed and shook his head. " No, I'll be voting cause Rahne, and _especially you_ will be biased. " 

" What? No! I won't be biased! " 

" Berto, please. " Sam shook his head. " It's you. " 

" Fair point. " 

* * *

" So how was your bathroom break? " 

" Great, took a big sh-- " 

" Seriously. " 

" Yep. " 

" Archie, please, just start talking. " 

" They don't know what to do. We and X want them, their backed in a corner. But DC liked to say it's them against the world and they'd win. " 

_He's wrong._

" Oh so you decided to pop over, Blair, how nice. " 

_Again, not my name._

" Blanch from the Golden Girls? " 

_Warmer._

" Belladonna? " 

_You were watching RWBY again._

" Yes. " 

_I wanna keep this going, but G's headed to the bathroom._

" Seems I still need to take my big fat s-- " 

" Stop it and just do it. " 

* * *

Proper urinal edict: **Just Don't Look At Anyone Else.**

Apparently, the guy next to Sam lacked understanding of that universal rule, because he kept glancing over. 

" What's with the cast, kiddo? " The random guy suddenly asked.

Sam let out an internal sigh of relief, that made sense. Random kid with a cast, black eye and covered in dirt was something someone would look at.

Made sense. 

" Fell. " Didn't mean Sam wasn't gonna keep his answers short, and that wasn't completely a lie either. 

" How high? Looks like you broke it in a few different places there, like, the radius, the ulna, carpus, and your metacarpus. " 

" How did you know that? " 

That was exactly what Reyes had told him he broke when he'd done it. 

_Exactly._

" Oh, I went to medical school, always wanted to work in a hospital when I was a teenager. " 

Yep, it was official, Sam was getting the hell out of there. " Interesting. " Were his last words as he finished up and tried to leave. 

The door was _locked._

" You know why you five were so special? " 

Sam's eye widened. This was exactly where his original thoughts about what was happening had been.

" Essex takes in troubled Mutants with no families, tries to help learn not to abuse their powers. To _control_ them. Sometimes families give up their kids willingly because there a problem. " 

Sam continued to stare, this guy wasn't doing anything yet, and this seemed like good information, though his powers dancing right bellow his skin ready to burst. 

" Typically they become better, and eventually, are let go... And for some reason their still problematic... Most of 'em end up in the Icebox. Interesting, ain't it? " 

Sam wasn't taking his liberties in responding. 

The man sighed. "You're really not fun. Anyway, you five are special because you were already fucked in the head murderers. Guilt-ridden by what you did. It wasn't gonna be difficult to make you worse. Just look at Reyes or me, for that matter, we turned out well and we did what you kids did. " 

" We didn't kill anyone. " 

" Sure you didn't. The only justified murder was Magik's. Now, whipping an entire reservation off the planet, a girl who just wanted to get in your pants, a whole crew, and three dead fathers aren't nice. " 

" What do you want? " Sam was better at pretending when something didn't bother him, than most people were.

" Come with me, no one else will die. " 

" Who even are you? " 

" Archer Caspian, just ask Magik, she might remember me, we were at that place for a month or two together. " 

" Go to Hell. " 

Archer shrugged. " Well then it's not my fault if we finish what we planned to do originally. " He said, and suddenly he disappeared and the door was unlocked. 

* * *

" That was a really nasty s-- " 

" Stop that. " 

" But Nate-- " 

" Shut up, he clearly didn't take the offer. " 

" Well, I think he got the idea, but I don't think he got the final piece. " 

" Final piece? " 

" I think they forgot we don't need Mirage alive. " 

* * *

" We gotta go. " 

" Huh? "

" What? " 

" Why? " 

" We've been found, and it's probably not gonna be pretty if we stay here. " Sam rushed out, trying to quickly get the point across. 

" Damnit, I knew I felt something. " Illyana cursed, " I'll grab our stuff. " 

And without regard for anyone around them, Illyana vanished.

* * *

" Well hello again. " 

Illyana groaned. " Riley, good to know you can break into a room. " 

" Aww, you remembered my voice. " 

" No, I just know the sound of bitch. " 

" Well that scar on my throat never faded, so I guess you'd know exactly why it sounds that way. " 

" Yeah. " Illyana drawled on, ignoring the woman. Riley was useless to kill if Blake was around because it was just too difficult. 

(Even if that hadn't stopped Illyana in the few months she'd known Riley.)

Then Illyana was gone.

" Always short with people. “

* * *

  
That car couldn’t move any slower, even if it was going over 50 miles. It still felt agonizingly slow. 

And words were stuck in Sams head. 

“ _Three dead fathers aren't nice_. " 

Three. It was like a magical number right now. 

In years, months and weeks, the five were way to close and codependent. For some reason they already knew everything about each other.

Sam could nail down the favorite color, book, food, animal, and almost anything else. And that included Dani who he’d only known for a few weeks. 

Three.

Definetely not Illyana, she’s the most murder type of them all, but theirs always been a purpose. 

Roberto’s dad is well alive. 

Sam knows what happened to his.

Dani’s dad was on that reservation when a bear gobbled it up. 

That left Rahne, who Sam knew more about that anyone. They were just to similar not to know everything about one another. 

Each of them knew who killed who, some in better context than others. 

Illy, for all her cold-hearted badass-ness, had such tender moments with Berto, and Sam had seen that moment when she completely almost broke down in the hallway of the hospital.

So Berto probably knew stuff Sam didn’t, and Illy probably knew things Berto didn’t tell the others.

The three of them placed bets on when Rahne and Dani would get together, there was probably more knowledge their. 

Dani might know, and Sam could probably ask and it stay a secret if Dani told him. 

Rahne killing her father? Maybe it did happen, maybe it was just something that jerk had said, either way it didn’t matter to Sam. 

If Rahne hadn’t told them, it either didn’t matter or was to touchy of a subject, so Sam need not pry.

If Rahne was gonna say something, she’d say something, if not, it was none of the others business to ask her. 

Sams knowledge was his own, and it would stay his own unless Rahne decided to speak about it. 

Maybe it doesn’t matter to her, or maybe its touchy, it could even just be something she just doesn’t want to talk about. 

Sam doesn’t care, because his friend doesn’t care, and since it’s her business, he shares this opinion. 

But life was never that easy for the New Mutants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The kids have issues and there one step closer to being talked out.
> 
> This angst grill is REALLY starting to heat up. Getting SO close to burning.
> 
> And also since the day this chapter comes out is the 25th and it’s what I celebrate in my family...
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎁🎄


	6. The Fire's Burning Higher.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, they play cat and mouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also shoved a few Runaways along with Cloak & Dagger reference jokes in here.

" So who's willing to get ran over? " 

" Not it! " Three voices exclaimed. 

Nathan facepalmed. " Dang it. " 

" Not our fault you didn't say it. " 

" We we're gonna make you do it anyway. " 

" Archer shut up! He isn't to know that! " 

" I hate all of you. " 

" Aww, I love you too babe. " Archer made random smooching noises. 

" On another note, the kids sound really nice right now. " Nathan then departed from the tree line, before briefly looking back, " I love you too, Hun. " 

* * *

The car came to a full _stop._

" Sam, for insisting be bounce on out of there, your not really good at... " Roberto trailed off. 

As if it was becoming a tradition, a man stood in front of the car, just looking on.

" Give me a second, here. " Illyana grumbled, starting to open the door. 

" Illyana, no-- " 

It was too late, and due to this, the other four kids were forced to get out of the car. 

" Well, hello, I don't believe I've properly met any of you. " The man faked the tip of a hat he wasn't wearing. " Nathan Cooper. " 

" Shitty name, which one's your _real_ one? " Illyana cocked her head to the side, smirking. 

Nathan smiled. " Archie didn't mention you were so snarky. Anyway, names Shift. " 

" Okay that's worse. " 

" Yeah, Essex has been improving it's naming system lately. I mean, magic with a K? That's just as badass as Wolfsbane, and like, who decided to come up with Sunspot? Cannonball, a little bit on the mark, but it's cool. And _Mirage,_ now that, _that..._ Well, spoilers I guess. " 

A females laugh was heard from the line. " Nathan, you like spoiling things though. " 

" What? No I don't? " 

Sam recognized the next voice.

Archer Caspian, he thinks he what he said. 

" _Every comic ever._ " 

" Okay, I see your point, I'll buy you all dinner later to make up for it. " 

This time it was a different female voice. " Oh yeah, right, when we're _not_ filling out paperwork? Because we're gonna be stuck doing that _forever_ once we grab these runaways. " 

" Blake, those are in Los Angeles. Wrong kids. " Archer scolded, stepping out from the tree line and joining Nathan in the middle of the road. 

" I'm done with this. " Illyana stated, armor beginning to grow over her arm with that of the Soulsword. 

" Wait! Wait! Wait! " Archer scrambled out, grinning. " There's five of you, but there's only four of us, that's not fair at all. So let's play a game? " 

The world was deathly silent.

" Your no fun. Anyway, while Nate can have Samuel, Blake gets Roberto, and Riley gets Rahne, I'll take you Illyana. But wait, that's only four of you, so what are we gonna do with Danielle? Me, you and Danielle are gonna play cat and mouse. Sound fun? " 

Roberto narrowed his eyes, but the Essex Mutants couldn't tell because they were too far away. " Your definition of fun isn't the same as ours. " 

" Fair point. Anyway, so Illyana, Danielle, the three of us are gonna play cat and mouse. Or, I guess it's more like hide and seek. Illyana, I'm gonna drop Danielle in another dimension, she's going to be falling, and in five minutes, she'll face plant into the ground. If you can find her before five minutes is up, she lives. If not, she dies. Do you have the rules? Any questions, any of you? " 

...

" No? Good. Then if that's right, take a long look at Danielle, cause it's the last time you'll see her. " 

Illyana and Archer stared at each other for a few seconds. 

Then they disappeared, Dani with them. 

The New Mutants glared. " What happened to them? " 

" Great question, we won't know the answer to for five minutes. So let's find a way to spend that time. " Nathan shrugged, eyeing Sam. " I hate when he tells us who to fight, but you killed to many men for me to just not. " 

The women then left the tree line. " Stop playing, Cooper, get Kentucky, and me and Blake will handle sunny dogs. " 

* * *

" Four minutes is all you have left! Better start finding her a little faster! " 

" Where's the fun in making this easy? " Illyana huffed, " Воздух в водоворот, пожни приливы. " 

And now a _hurricane,_ was forming around Archer. 

" I forget how powerful you are outside of earth, thankfully, I don't know who's this is, so I don't care. " 

Then Archer vanished, and Illyana wasn't letting him get away so fast. 

They landed in rocky terrain, and Illyana quickly had to get her footing as to not fall off a cliff. 

" Don't fall! " Archer laughed, somehow already half way across this dimension, and somehow Illyana could still hear him as if he was right next to her. 

Physics didn't work in any of these places like they did on earth. Gravity barely existed in some, in others the air was extremely thin, while in some it was to cold or to hot, in others the gravity was to much which made it heavy.

Which meant... Dani was somewhere that physics were normal, and nothing was off balance. 

But their were hundreds of dimensions like that Illyana could look, and she had barely more than three minutes to find Dani. 

But Archer was the key to his own game. 

He was nicknamed, Glitch, for a reason. A glitch was something that shouldn’t happen, but still does. It’s something not right but not exactly wrong either. 

And that explained Archer’s abilities is a nutshell. His ability to ‘glitch’ wasn’t a choice he made, it was something forced upon him. 

It was trigger by something, that something being Illyana attacking him... 

He’d been the one throwing them around time and space because Illyana made him. 

She was following _him._ And he couldn’t follow _her._

Her friends really wouldn’t survive without her. 

* * *

  
" You know, for such cool names, you should've really learned how to fight better. " Nathan shrugged, as currently Blake had the kids all somehow bound together without a rope.

Look, the point was that they were tied up and could barely move at all.

Riley, they'd learned that was the tall woman's name, slapped Nathan's shoulder. " Don't be so rude, they'll grow into it. I believe the saying is practice... What's the saying again? " 

" Practice makes perfect. " Blake clarified, tapping her foot as she watched the three. 

" Yeah that! Thanks, bay. " 

" Don't call me that in front of people. " 

" Aww, why? Does it _rile_ you up? " 

" You have bad puns. " 

Nathan snorted, " you know, when Reyes sent in reports about your social behavior, she often mentioned you couldn't shut up. What's so new? " 

Roberto clicked his tongue. " Wouldn't you like to know. " 

" He enjoys being a pet peeve about your personal life. Get used to it, the boss says you kids are special and'll probably move up pretty quick. Top of the food chain kind of stuff. So we'll probably end up working together someday. He's like this all the time. " Riley decided to inform, crossing her arms. 

" I am not! " 

" Yeah, yeah you are Cooper. " 

Blake snorted at her friends antics, checking her watch. " You've got 2 minutes ti'll Danielle hits the ground. " 

Sam huffed. " Of us five, why kill Dani? " 

Nathan facepalmed, " why are we trying to recruit them again? " 

Riley ignored him. " It's the best for you five. She'll eventually kill all of you--

" Dani wouldn't ever do that! " 

Sam and Roberto crapped themselves.

Rahne was capable of anger.

That was terrifying. 

" I didn't say it would be on purpose. She'll kill all of you, and eventually, guilt will catch her too fast. She'll either finish the job herself, or die a bitter lonely death. We're doing this for all five of you. Trust me, worse teams tried going on this mission just because they heard Illyana was a tall, sexy blonde girl, and so what if they had to kill another girl for another? That didn't matter to them. You got lucky with us. " 

Sam grit his teeth. " Dani's powers aren't as uncontrolled as you think they are. " 

" Then explain Rahne's new brand. " 

The three New Mutants lost words. 

* * *

Usually, Illyana couldn't teleport people with her. But apparently that was changing today as she and Dani hit the bright red ground of Limbo.

" _Dusty._ " Dani coughed, trying to get her crap together after falling who knows how far down for who knows how long. 

" Me and Locky don't usually do any spring cleaning in Limbo. " Illyana huffed, trying to get it together after traveling all over in such a short time frame. 

Dani let out a breathless laugh. " Never knew you made jokes Illy. " 

" You don't know a lot about me. " 

" Can I learn? " 

" By getting in my head? Absolutely not. By having deep-seated conversations about trust and loyalty? " 

Dani blinked despite herself. Illyana was seriously about to--

" Hell no. " She finished.

Dani sighed. " Worth a shot if I was Berto? " 

" Why does he matter to this? " 

" Oh I don't know, no reason at all. " 

" Shut up. The others are still struggling. Once we get it together, I'll unpause Limbo time and we can go and help. " 

" Oh my, you actually _care!_ " 

" Nope, this was Lockheed's idea. His token of gratitude for bringing him back to me at the hospital. " 

Illyana wouldn't notice the little dragon was missing from her pocket ti'll much later. 

* * *

" Then explain Rahne's new brand. " 

" Oh we'll give you a long explanation if you really want it. " 

Everyone jumped. 

Illyana was standing there, sword dancing around in her hand, as she watched on. " Basically-- " 

" Stop with the damn storytelling! We're in a god damned book guys! " Sam complained openly, his accent never having been so prominent. 

" But it's fun. " 

That time Illyana jumped. 

" How--? " 

" My power is a glitch Illyana, it's not supposed to work right. I’m like that kid from New Orleans. " Archer shrugged, appearing next to the three New Mutants currently stuck to the ground. " So where's Danielle? She's not where I put her anymore, and she isn't dead. Explain if you will. " 

" Limbo. " Illyana kept short, one hand behind her back. _Купайтесь в свете, но не совсем_. 

In a moment, a bright flash of light left Illyana, blinding everyone.

And then Nathan decided Archer's fun was over, as all around Illyana gravity increased 10 fold. 

She hit the ground pretty hard. 

" I truly question the nature of our relationship if you don't let me have fun, Nate. " 

" Archer, we're just _really_ good friends. " 

" Right, who sometimes kiss, make out, have sex and really emotional talks, right? " 

" It's complicated. " 

Roberto thuded his knuckles against the blacktop. He would've did his head if he and the others weren't forced into sitting positions.

And then Illyana, who was also now despite being a badass, was tossed next to the other New Mutants. Bound by Blake, and unable to move because of Nathan. 

Archer smirked at the kids. " Alright, let's set one thing straight. You got _one_ thing at that hospital from your old life. Now? You get nothing. So... " He trailed off. " Guess a number. " 

Blake smirked. " 3. " She said.

" Okay, would you like to add Riley? " 

" 2. " The other girl guessed. 

" And that would mean Rahne's up first. " Archer decided off these random numbers, " Reyes liked to tell us you were the one kid who truly appreciated that chapel. So that means... " 

Archer then crouched down in front of Rahne, and squinted. Along the still raised burning red scar, he caught a glimpse of silver. " Ironic. " He snorted, then he ripped the necklace from Rahne's neck.

Roberto always liked to call Rahne a religious nut when he was bored, but this was making him a bit mad. 

" Give that back. " 

" Why? " 

" If it's precious to Rahne, it is to the rest of us. " 

Sam chocked.

 _Illyana the cold heartless bitch,_ _just used his own words._

Archer chuckled. " Yeah, I see why it would be. But after what you've done? It's disgraceful to wear one of these, trust me on this one, after I killed my brother Gabriel, I cast my cross necklace into a river. Keeping so close to your faith when you kill someone isn't easy to do, I tried, and I failed. I reckon you would too. " 

" Rahne's so much of a better person than you are. " Illyana laughed. 

Archer shrugged, " I believe it. Anyway-- " 

A jet was flying over head. 

" Fuck! " Nathan cursed, followed by the others cussing the same word.

Riley huffed. " I love these kids, and I really love those guys, but I love our freedom even more! Archer! " 

The four then disapeared, leaving the other four New Mutants sitting ducks for people looking for them.

The X-Men. 

* * *

The four clambered to the ground. 

" Where are we? " 

Archer was short. " Magnhild. " He stated, walking off a bit. " Or, I guess it's the jackpot. " 

“ Bad time for jokes, were dead when boss— “ 

Archer silenced Riley with a look. 

Then he raised up his hand reveal a small purple dragon resting in his palm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Archer, Nathan, Blake and Riley to be foils to the main characters, if they didn't get out of there. 
> 
> They had similar backstories, and Archer and Illyana had similar powers.
> 
> They're just so chill and relaxed, while making jokes in battles, their supposed to be the New Mutants if they hadn't gotten away from Reyes.
> 
> Wondering where the Cloak & Dagger reference along with Runaways reference is? Blake calls the kids runaways, but Archer corrects her, saying their in L.A. And when Archer tells Illyana how he’s there, he says he’s like "That kid from New Orleans," meaning Tyrone/Cloak, whatever you wanna call him.


	7. Get It Together!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of people have been saying that in the mansion lately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter starts with a few 'bouts of humor, but I swear it's ending on a worse note.

" Oh, so this is great. We've got one thing for certain. Either one of the Essex Mutants who attacked is catholic, or one of the New Mutants is catholic. We learned so much today. " Scott groaned, facepalming. 

" It's still _something_ Scott, get it together bud. " Storm huffed, though she was clearly objecting this idea to. 

Xavier leaned back in his wheelchair, letting this unwind. 

" No, we have something _else._ " NTW grumbled. " I don't mean to be disrespectful to my own mentor, but we _do_ know that Colossus' sister is a New Mutant. " 

Scott groaned. " New question, Professor. " 

" Yes? " 

" Why are we calling them that? " 

" Well, they're new to being Mutants, and they're powerful, so they get their own group name. Yukio came up with the New Mutants. " 

Arguing against the bright ball of sunshine, wasn't even something Scott could do because Yukio was just so nice. Sometimes _too_ nice, especially when compared to her girlfriend. 

" How are you with her? " Scott chuckled, eyeing NTW.

" Your starting to sound like Wade and it's scaring me. " 

" That's it! " Quicksilver cheered, fist-bumping the air. 

" Please don't say we need to have Wade help, or I'll go die in a hole. " NTW groaned. 

" No no no! But Wade's the key! Not really him exactly, but Russel and all those other kids! Domino may be to if we could bribe her, but even if not, Essex had all of _them_ too. " 

Nightcrawler shook his head. " You pretty much just asked a bunch of traumatized kids to reveal their abuse. " 

" Just a thought. " Quicksilver shrugged, obviously thinking about how it would work. 

" We'll keep it in mind, Peter. " Xavier nodded toward the white-haired boy, who was now smirking. " Either way, we still need to find the Essex Mutants _and_ the New Mutants. Their both dangerous, and one from each group are masters of space and time. We'll need to split up to try finding them. Though, they could really be anywhere because they're missing on Cerebro. " 

Strom groaned loud enough to get everyone's attention. " Which means they're in an entirely different world. " 

Xavier smiled like he'd just found out he was 20 again.

" Yep. " 

* * *

" I thought if we were in Limbo, you wanted us dead. " 

Illyana groaned. " More like I wanted myself dead... That was harder than I thought... " 

" So, the sky's red in here. " Roberto mused.

Illyana huffed, not even opening her eyes yet. " Yes, the sky is red. The ground is red dust, but mostly metal. And the air is breathable. You want the whole geographical outlook? " 

" Yes. " Dani jumped her chance to partially insult Illyana's intelligence. 

" I just _saved_ your life, don't make me _end_ it. " 

Dani breathed a sigh of relief. " Oh finally, your back to being rude. Alright, she's okay, she's not to strained for poofing all four of us. " 

" Oh great, the good kids are being quiet though. " 

" Explain. " 

" Rahne and Sam, you know, the good ones? You know, polite, respectful ones that behave? " 

Sam and Rahne snorted. 

" Kids who use the library would always work. " Sam commented.

Roberto gasped. "There was a library?! " 

" Did you not know that? " Rahne asked, cleaerly confused. 

" Even I knew that, and I was there for a week. " Dani laughed. 

" No one ever told me! " 

Illyana snickered. " It was pretty obvious where it was. You didn't have to be told, we all just asumed you didn't read much. " 

" I like books. " 

" Well, your good anyway. There weren't any in Russian or Portuguese, anyway. " 

Rahne groaned. " There actually _was._ " 

" Really? " Illyana peeked open one of her eyes. 

" Yes. " Rahne rolled her eyes. 

Illyana would have shrugged if everything didn't hurt so bad. " I can't read that well anyway. In Russian or English. " 

" I can't read English at all, so your still ahead of me. " Roberto laughed, " And my Portuguese skills are greart though. " 

" Liar. " Rahne called him out. 

" I'm not lying! " 

" Your heartbeat sped up. I can hear it. " 

Roberto facepalmed. " I forgot that. " 

" For calling me doggy all the time, you clearly don't remember I have the senses of one. " 

Roberto groaned. " It's yours' and Sam's job to be the smart ones who keep us from trouble, Dani and Illyana's to be the leaders who get us into the trouble, and I'm the muscle behind your stupidity. " 

" You either just called Rahne and Sam, the people you complimented, or me and Illyana, the girl you're complicated with, stupid. Think this through Berto. " 

Roberto facepalmed. " I see your point. " 

" Good. Now, Illyana, full geographical explanation. " 

" I was kidding about that but if you're so insistent. Admittedly, you all probably already learned this, but open wounds are gonna burn a lot. Limbo has some really weird physics. " 

Rahne whistled. " We figured that out the hard way. " 

" Fair. New question, how long were we out for? " 

" You tell us, oh great Supreme Sorceress of Limbo. " Dani mocked, smirking. " We don't know how time works in here. " 

" Roberto has a watch. " 

" It stopped working. " Roberto shrugged. 

Illyana groaned. " I would offer to take us all back, but it'll take a while before I even work up the guts to _sit._ " 

" Illyana? No bravery? Bull, your not Illyana, you must be an imposter. " Dani sounded genuinely offended. 

" I would hit you if I could move my arms. " 

" And I'm going to abuse this. " 

* * *

Nightcrawler had gotten the necklace. One, because it made sense to give the catholic guy the catholic cross, and because he was also the one guy who could also find someone with the ability to travel all across time and space. Though the Professor had been strict, _don't do it alone,_ he'd said. 

Still, Kurt was very capable of finding whoever this belonged to. 

But he couldn't.

Not that he didn't want to, he really did. But something was keeping him from doing so.

Something different. Something new. Something--

" _Oh_. " 

Now he got what it was. 

* * *

" So, you dead yet? " 

" No. " Illyana huffed, peeking open her eyes just to glare at Dani.

" Darn. " 

" I really should have just left you falling. " 

" But you didn't, and now you'll pay the price. " 

Roberto started laughing, before Illyana gave _him_ the _look_ and he shut up. 

" Berto, man up. " Dani facepalmed.

" What do you mean? " 

" You're easy. " 

" I'm confused. " 

" Not that hard. " 

Dani kept sneaking glances at Illyana to see what she'd do if someone harassed Berto.

She was gonna make some fun if they were stuck here for a while. 

" You 'ought to man up. " Sam added in, catching on to this. 

" Yeah, come on, don't get Illyana to be the wrong one. " Rahne kept the joke going. "Your the only one of us who _hasn't,_ fought her. " 

Roberto looked like he'd just gotten to read an English book. 

Which he couldn't do.

So he was as confused as possible. 

* * *

"You're visibly frowning. " 

Piotr jumped, not having noticed his old student leaning in his doorway. 

" I'm not. " Piotr denied, which was a bald-faced lie. 

" Sure you aren't. And Wade isn't difficult. " Ellie rolled her eyes. 

" Difficult? Ellie, I taught you better, he's far worse. " 

" And you're a subject changer. " 

Piotr sighed. " Your right. "

" I know. " 

" You're being extra today, did something happen between you girls? " 

NTW chuckled. " No, she and Russel hit the fair. Don't worry, Domino is in charge, and everyone made sure Wade couldn't follow. So nothing's gonna blow up or need our help. Domino's gonna make sure Russel doesn't burn anything and Yukio doesn't buy out all the stuffed animals. " 

" Domino in charge doesn't help. She's a registered felon. " 

Ellie brushed it off. " Meh, it's all good, she makes a better hero than the rest of Wade's shit show. " 

Piotr shrugged. " Can't argue against that. " 

" Exactly. Now, tell me about your visible frown. " Ellie declared, fully entering the room and closing the door. " Let me guess, your little sister? " 

"You're growing vigilant. " 

" No, I'm just not blind to my mentor's problems. " 

Piotr nodded, thoughtfully. " I'm just... I guess I'm confused. " 

" Elaborate. " Ellie urged, with a therapist's encouragement. If superhero wasn't a path she wanted to keep taking, therapist would apparently make a good career change. 

" What in the world am I going to tell her? 'Hey it's me, you know, your older brother who left to become a superhero more than a decade ago, and I still wanna be cool?' Yeah, even as optimistic as I am, I couldn't manage that. " 

" Yeah, that would be a pretty harsh move. " 

Piotr groaned.

" And you'd definitely sound like your trying really hard. " 

Then he hung his head. 

" But you know what? " 

Piotr barely looked up to his old pupil.

" You are _Piotr_ _fucking Nikolaievitch Rasputin,_ a member of the X-Men, teacher of Xaviers School For Gifted Youngsters, good friend, good student, great mentor, and an amazing hero to the world. If you can do all that, I swear to God, if the thing my mentor fails at is his own little sister, I'll _deck you for her._ If Wade and I can be good to Russel like he's our own little brother, you can accomplish getting it by with your sister. This is not a suggestion, not an idea, this is not a word of encouragement, _this is a fact._ " 

Piotr weakly chuckled. " Yukio's rubbing off on you, you're being optimistic. " 

" Throwing my girlfriend in this is cheating. And no, you are not going to change this subject. Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin, you _are_ going to man up, get it together, and be prepared to face your sister. " 

" When did you get this good at motivational speaking? It's horrifying. " 

" I had a good mentor to teach me how. And said mentor needs to pull it together, gather his might, and be prepared. I'll give the reality: your sister isn't gonna be the same. We've all met Russel and those other Essex kids, and they're screwed in the head. And something was special enough about Illyana and those other kids that they got their own facility. Your sister is gonna have changed from that, and anything else that may have happened to her beforehand. Yeah, she's probably gonna think you left her. But your gonna have to to try, the Colossus I know, never gives up. " 

" The Colossus you knew didn't have his sister. " 

" The Colossus I know, is as unyielding as his Mutation. He didn't have his brother or his sister as the middle child, but he fought hard in the names of Illyana and Mikhail. The Colossus in front of me looks like when Wade blows a limb off. Small, weak, and pathetic. But now he has his sister, and he's giving up. " 

Piotr dropped his head. 

_Mikhail._

He hadn't heard his brother's name in years. Recently though, Illyana's name had been the talk of the professors of Xavier's school. Illyana and her friends seemed like very dangerous, _misguided_ , Mutants. 

But Mikhail Nikolaievitch Rasputin? He'd went on a mission and never came back. Surely everyone thought his Mutation will have saved him, but it clearly had not. Mikhail had basically been able to manipulate matter, and warp things to his bidding. Piotr could turn fully into metal. Seems it ran in the family to switch things up. 

He'd never learned Illyana's Mutation before he left. When he came back a few years later to visit, Mother and Father had been forced by some gangster to give up their daughter to some thugs. 

And thugs was being polite, because Piotr would rather not imagine what they did to his little snowflake. 

It took a mix of Scott and Storms physical strength, and Xavier and Jean's telepathy to keep Piotr off the guy. 

They'd tried getting it out of him on where Illyana was, but he didn't know. He'd gone to check up on her, and all the men had been slaughtered. The X-Men checked. They were dead. And Illyana was missing. 

That day had made it official Piotr had lost both his siblings. 

" Why are you always right about stuff? It's like you know the future or something. " 

" Who knows, maybe in another life I was precognitive telepath or something. " 

" Maybe you were. " 

" Maybe I was. " 

* * *

" Your whacking arms working again yet? " 

" Have you been in anyone's head lately? " 

" No. " 

" Then there's your answer. " 

Dani nodded. " Understood. " 

Rahne stayed quiet.

Because Dani was lying. 

And it didn't take her better senses to know that. 

* * *

_" But daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad... "_

_" But Daaaaaaaaanniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii... " Her father drawled on right back at his daughter, who seemed bored out of her mind._

_" I don't wanna goooooooooo.... "_

_" But we haaaaaaaave tooooo. " Her father continued, trying to keep the trend going._

_" Fine. "_

_" Hooray, my daughter likes the tradition. "_

_" Don't make it sound like I'm happy about it. "_

_" But your friends are gonna be there. "_

_Dani shrugged. " Meh. "_

_" Grandpa's gonna be there too. "_

_Dani didn't help a slight smile, which made her father declare victory._

Grandpa and her friends were all gone now. 

  
_" Rahne, pull your sleeves down. "_

_" Huh? Why though? "_

_" First off, it's unladylike. And second of all, you'll start getting used to showing so much skin, it's simply wrong. Not only is it a sin for a woman to show so much, but simply_ wrong _. "_

She just wanted to not get dirt all over her sleeves. 

_  
" Your 16, so your a man now Sam. Heavy lifting time little brother. "_

But the heavy lifting sucked... He just wanted to finish studying for the test...

_  
" Alright, alright, I understand your struggling to read Roberto, but-- "_

_" I'm not struggling! "_

_" Well your professor-- "_

_" I'm really good at reading at writing! "_

_" Yeah? "_

Besides the fact the letters always looked a bit jumbled up. 

_" I want her first. "_

_" No fair, I called heads and it landed on heads! "_

_" You said tails! "_

_" I said heads! "_

_" Will both of you shut up?! Just both of you do it, come on, the kid is for experimenting with! Figure it out! "_

_" This is why you're the boss Pozha! "_

_" I know that you dimwits! Because oh I don't know... I'm the only smart enough to not let us get caught with an underage kid! "_

_" Fair, your right. Now... How should we spilt her? "_

  
Dani was able to get out of Illyana's head before she found out the rest. But then it hit her harder than the red dusty ground of Limbo.

**She was the only one with happy memories.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I let the angst sizzle and fry, and now it's just burning.
> 
> But for better or worse, the angst grill will continue to burn. And I got five more to waste it on.


	8. Tales Of Better Times.

" Well now, if we're struggling so much, why not just call the Avengers! They already stole our fame in 63! " 

" Wade, quiet down. " Ellie jabbed him in the neck. 

" Actually, NTW, he makes a good point, I already contacted them-- " 

" _What?!_ " 

" Yes, they decided this was urgent enough to send an agent of SHIELD, to assist us. " 

" _Why?!_ " 

" Just kidding I called MacTaggert. " 

The room erupted into sighs of relief.

" Don't scare us like that Professor! If people knew SHIELD had to get involved in Mutant affairs, that could cause some concern. " Scott sighed, utterly relieved by this. 

Xavier chuckled. " I believe that's what the kids call a prank. " 

Colossus facepalmed. " That was scary. " 

Ellie sighed. " I agree with him with this on. " 

" Me? " Wade cheerfully asked. 

" No. " 

" Yukio? " 

" Using my girlfriend is illegal unless you want me to blow you up. " 

Xavier laughed. " Go outside if you're going to do so Ellie. " 

The girl nodded. " Understood professor. " 

Storm snorted. " Just keep away from my garden when he scatters, I don't want that anywhere near it. " 

" Please stay from the church. " Nightcrawler advised. 

Ellie nodded to them all. " I will respect my elders' wishes, anything else I should be aware of? " 

" I'm your elder? Aww, how sweet Negasonic You Know The Rest. " Wade then made the dumb choice of ruffling Ellie's hair. 

" Be right back. " Ellie excused herself from the room, dragging Wade with her. 

* * *

" But we don't know who the cross belongs to. " Xavier finished explaining, leaning back in his chair. 

MacTarggert nodded, pursing her lips. " Nightcrawler, let me see the necklace please. " 

While confused, Kurt still respected his elders, so handed it over. 

MacTarggert flipped it over in her palm. C.T.W.T.G, was the acronym on it. " I know who's it is. " 

" How could you tell? There's probably millions that look the exact same. " Storm objected, being logically skeptical about this.

" Wrong. Their's only two of these in existence. Personally made for a certain Reverand and his daughter. It's not the Essex Mutants, it's Rahne's. " 

Xavier quirked his brow in confusion. " Should I ask how you know that? " 

" C.T.W.T.G. Commit Thy Work To God. That's what Sinclair means. There's only one other cross that looks like this, and it was buried with the bastard who had it made. " 

" Now I feel like asking why he's dead. " Xavier motioned for her to continue. 

MacTaggert facepalmed. " Xavier, these aren't just your normal scared and misguided Mutants kids with dangerous powers, their murderers. I truly question if your madness has a method. You need the CIA involved. Illyana and Rahne shouldn't even be in the country. " 

Piotr huffed, but didn't say anything. 

" Your half right, half wrong MacTaggert. They aren't normal scared, misguided and dangerous Mutants, but the CIA is staying out of Mutant affairs. What your both wrong and right about though is that these kids are murders, and they aren't my normal accidentally hurt someone, kids. But Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters is open to all, for better or worse. " 

" Your a crazy bastard, I truly question why we kissed once. " 

And that was Xavier's cue to roll on out of the room as all his former students were left either horrified by this, rejoicing with happiness, just frozen in place, or asking a million questions. 

* * *

" So... We're all out dumb stories, aren't we? " 

" Yep. " 

" Middle name stories..? You guys have those is Russia, America and Scotland, right..? " Roberto question, unaware of this. 

Illyana snorted. " Tell us why Da Costa is separated with a space. " 

" My mother's name was Costa, my fathers last name was Da. That's how Brazilian names are chosen. Alright, gave you my dumb life story, your turn Illyana. " 

The blonde girl groaned. " Russian middle names are derived from our fathers first name. My father was named Nikolai and I got Nikolievna out of that. Alright, Sam, your turn. " 

" Why me? " 

" Only boy who doesn't have a whole song and dance about how his middle name was picked. " 

" Zachery. Nothing special to it. My mom liked the name. " 

" Fancy. Bear, your turn. " 

Dani huffed, glaring at Roberto. " Laugh, and I'll show you _everything_ you've _ever_ been afraid of. " 

" You wouldn't. " 

" Test me. " 

Dani and Roberto kept eye contact for a few seconds before Roberto gave in. " I'll be silent. " 

" Alright, out with it bear. " 

" Don't have one. " 

" Your lame. Alright, dog, dramatic wolf pack history please. " 

Rahne looked at the dusty red ground. " Don't want to talk about it. " 

" Sensitive, sensitive. Fine. _Berto!_ Start making dumb ideas as I gather the strength to finally stand. " 

" Why am I the dumb idea generator? " 

" Do I _really_ need to answer that? " 

* * *

" So just to confirm, your _not_ de-- " 

" _Dani._ " 

" Understood. " 

Illyana just kept glaring anyway, while Dani just smiled. 

" _Ahem._ " Sam coughed, clearly not wanting to watch people die today. 

It just kept going, so Sam elbowed Rahne and Roberto. 

" Wha--? " 

" It works better when you two do it. " 

" _Ahem._ " 

Dani and Illyana's attentions were suddenly in entirely different places. 

Sam facepalmed. 

One was obvious, the other was oblivious. 

* * *

" Okay, so I'm _slightly_ sure, I can get us somewhere. Depends, where do ya'll wanna go? " Illyana asked, not wanting to just go anywhere. 

" Nowhere but somewhere. " Roberto decided, smirking. 

" What...? " 

" It sounded a lot wittier in my head. " 

" We noticed. " Dani deadpanned. 

" Well, could _you_ come up with something better? " 

" Probably. " 

" Either shut up, or spit something out. " 

" Well, Reyes lied about a lot of things, but I'd rather not find out if she was joking about the police still wanting my head in Kentucky. " 

Illyana nodded. " So not Kentucky. Got it. That _definitely_ made this so much easier to decide. " 

* * *

Eventually, they'd decide on somewhere a bunch of random teenagers wouldn't get second glances thrown their way. 

New York. 

Pretty dumb idea, right? Yeah, it was. But the fact was, they wouldn't be found no matter how hard someone looked. 

Currently, the kids found themselves sleeping in an alley. 

" So, where's the worst place you've ever slept? " Roberto yawned, stretching.

" The ground. " Dani revealed.

" Cold concrete. " Illyana admitted.

" One camping trip where we forgot tents and sleeping bags. " Sam yawned. 

" Bed of thorns. " Rahne said, snuggling closer to Dani. 

" Welp, my worst is right here. " Roberto sighed, looking at his watch. _10:32 pm._

Illyana slapped him on the chest. " Welcome to not having daddy's money. " 

" Ow. " 

" Wow, for complaining about that cuddling and telling him not to touch you, your oddly close tonight. " Dani mused, being content with Rahne in her arms. 

Illyana practically did the worm to move a good few feet away. 

" Stop running from affection. " Roberto groaned, rolling across the ground toward Illy.

Once he got within hitting distance, Illyana instead of knocking the crap out of him, teleported away another few feet back. " Stop that. " 

Berto began to once more roll.

" Please. " 

Then he stopped. Illy _never_ said please, thank you, or your welcome unless she was being sarcastic. But there was no sarcasm in that. 

" _Fine._ " 

" I _knew_ she was sick... " Dani mumbled, before quieting down because Rahne nudged her over it. 

Sam just pulled his cap over his eyes, smirking. 

First, he had his _"complicated"_ friends, and then his hopelessly lesbian friends. 

He needed a life...

" So, who's a Mutant in your fam? " Berto wondered, seeing as everyone was unable to sleep. 

Dani huffed. " Don't know, don't care. Go to bed Berto. " 

" Not until everybody answers. " 

Sam groaned. " My sisters, Paige, and Melody, along with my brothers Joshua, Jeb, Lewis, and my uncle Lucas. Now go to sleep. " 

" Illy and Rahne haven't spoken yet. " 

" I don't know. " Rahne grumbled, having been only seconds away from falling asleep. 

Illyana flipped Berto off. " My brothers. Now _go to sleep._ " 

" Wait, plural? " 

" Yes. I have two older brothers. Mikhail and Piotr. Now _sleep._ " 

" If you all insist... Do yo-- " 

" Yes! " 

* * *

Elizabeth huffed, tossing the salt harshly over the table, Jeb, of course, caught it and smirked. " Least you tried. " 

Elizabeth grumbled, curling her spaghetti around her fork. "Shut the fu-- " 

" _Language._ " Paige scolded, scowling.

" You know, just because Sam isn't here, that doesn't mean you get to be the bos-- " 

" Do not utter that boy's name at this table. " Their mother, Lucinda, cut off the conversation. 

* * *

Illyana watched as a mouse ran across the alley, all the while her... They weren't her friends. More like... Confidants? Companions? Something like that, all the while they slept. 

She used to see rats and mice often. They reminded her of her past whenever one would somehow sneak into the hospital. She killed every single one she found. Either that, or she threw them in Rahne's room, making a jab at her playing fetch. Rahne always tossed it outside anyway. 

Either way, it got rid of them. 

" Уходи, даже если это неправильно... " Illyana mumbled, and for a brief second, the mouse vanished, then appeared again in front of Illy. " Сжечь. " The creature was then slowly turning to nothing but a pile of ash. 

Her new... Companions, didn't remind her a bit of her past. She liked that about them. They had their own dirty secrets, pasts they'd never talk about, stories never to be heard. They knew loss, pain, and fear. 

Maybe she holds _some_ sympathy for Dani. She unintentionally sees into their darker secrets, sees the stories they'd never tell, knows their most hidden fears. Illy knows her own head is probably annoying enough. 

But she buried her sympathy for others a long time ago, when she learned to ignore the cries of the other young boys and girls. 

She was there the longest. She knows bits and pieces of everyone's story. She knows nothing of Dani's. She's heard of her father, but never had she heard a thing of Dani's mother, whoever she may have been. She knew nothing else of Dani. 

She knows a lot about Roberto, from the night in the pool. 

Sam is a bit of a mystery. She knows he has about eight million siblings, that his fathers gone, and that the coal piece he carries around was a gift before his father's passing. 

Rahne's just as much a mystery. She knows little about the Scottish girl. Never had she gotten the whole story of the brand on Rahne's back. She'd made an assumption or two. The W either meant wolf, but in all honesty, she was very sure it meant witch. 

Illyana hated her parents for what they'd done, but one thing always stuck. Treat people how you wish to be treated. She did just that. It was easier to stay away from people when they also put an effort forth to staying away from you. 

But it was a lie if Illy said none of them reminded her of something she'd rather keep behind her. 

She knew he wasn't trying to upset her, but sometimes Berto got just a _bit_ too close. Being in his arms was both relaxing and repelling, and while it made Illyana feel safe... It... 

She was scared. 

Not of Berto, never in a million years, she looks at him wrong and he craps himself. But that's exactly why it scares her. 

When something reminds her a bit to much of her past, she, to put it simply, got rid of it. _Hurt_ it. 

Illyana didn't want that with Roberto. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam's like, everyone's big brother.
> 
> I also love how Illy tries so hard in this to not say the others are her friends, until eventually she slips and then she pretty much thinks: "Fuck, I think their actually becoming my friends."


	9. Try A Bit Harder.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Done with everyone's crap, Sam gathers his fellow Mutant friends into a... Therapy session???
> 
> Yeah, that's not what the end result was, but he tried.
> 
> Meanwhile, Xavier pulls what the kids these days call: "A pro gamer move." Whatever that means, he doesn't know, doesn't mean he won't pull one though.

_"...Sorry about that. "_

_" We don't blame you for what we saw. "_

_" Yeah. As I said, we're not afraid of you. We're afraid of what we saw. Of them. "_

_" Illyana, what the hell was that? "_

_" It was none of your business. "_

_" I like being alone. "_

_" Do you? "_

_"You're really not fun. Anyway, you five are special because you were already fucked in the head murderers. Guilt-ridden by what you did. It wasn't gonna be difficult to make you worse. Just look at Reyes or me, for that matter, we turned out well and we did what you kids did. "_

_" I didn't say it would be on purpose. She'll kill all of you, and eventually, guilt will catch her too fast. She'll either finish the job herself, or die a bitter lonely death. We're doing this for all five of you. Trust me, worse teams tried going on this mission just because they heard Illyana was a tall, sexy blonde girl, and so what if they had to kill another girl for another? That didn't matter to them. You got lucky with us. "_

_" Dani's powers aren't as uncontrolled as you think they are. "_

_" Then explain Rahne's new brand. "_

_" Yeah, I see why it would be. But after what you've done? It's disgraceful to wear one of these, trust me on this one, after I killed my brother Gabriel, I cast my cross necklace into a river. Keeping so close to your faith when you kill someone isn't easy to do, I tried, and I failed. I reckon you would too. "_

_" Your lame. Alright, dog, dramatic wolf pack history please. "_

_" Don't want to talk about it. "_

_" Stop that. "_

_Berto began to once more roll._

_" Please. "_

  
" Okay guys, it's time. " Sam declared.

" For..? " 

" I'm sorry what? "

" Wha..? " 

" This is gonna be good. " 

Sam huffed at Illy's remark, really, she truly reminded him of Elizabeth, because the snark was definitely there. But like, Illy's was about 30x worse.

" We are going to have a meeting. Sit. " Sam plotted himself onto the ground, gesturing for the others.

" No. " Dani declined.

" Why? " Rahne wondered.

" Never. " Roberto huffed.

" Try again tomorrow. " Illyana smirked, plotting herself on a trash can. 

" _Sit. Down._ " Sam again stated, narrowing his eyes at the others.

That got Rahne, Dani, and Roberto, but Illyana was harder to persuade. 

" Please, Illy? " 

" Nope. " 

" Or else I tell Berto what you were go-- " 

Illyana teleported behind Sam and covered his mouth. " Alright, fine. " 

" Okay good. " Sam smiled warmly, tipping his hat. " Alright, thank you guys for doing this. Now you see, we're going to have a healthy conversation about our feelings. " 

Dani and Roberto died in that very second. 

" No-- " 

" _Yes._ " 

They all kept eye contact with Sam for a second, before giving in. The fact he was so nice and kind, but had a stern side, was horrifying. Imagine if Rahne did that. What would be next, Berto's secretly gay? Rahne isn't Catholic? This was a revelation. 

" So, what's on everyone's mind? " 

" Pizza. " 

" Rahne. " 

" Keeping you talking. " 

" Illyana. " 

Sam facepalmed at Dani and Roberto's claims. " Okay, _apart_ from the two of you simping? " 

" It's a bit cold outside. " Dani shrugged. 

Roberto smirked. " My back's a wee bit sore. " He sighed, trying his hardest to imitate Rahne's Scottish accent. 

" I don't sound like that. " 

" Yeah you do. " 

" No she doesn't. "

" Not at all. " 

" Not even close. " 

Sam coughed. " Ahem. Anyway. What's actually on everyone's mind? " 

" Still Rahne. " 

" I'm swimming in the idea of Illyana. " 

Rahne pitched her nose. " Whenever you say our names, I really wish I couldn't smell anything. Your _killing_ me here. " 

" Wha-? " 

" I smell what you feel, remember? " 

Illyana snickered. " That's gotta be great. " 

" Oh, it's lovely. I hear and smell everything. _Everything_. It's slightly horrifying, cause I used to hear everything. " 

Roberto gulped. "...Everything? Like... Everything? " 

" It was really quiet with only 5 people. " 

" _Six._ " Sam corrected, just letting this play out now. They were talking, which could lead to other things. 

" No no, five. I mean this was before Dani, because in that one week, either everything at once was happening, or you could hear a fly fart. " Rahne huffed. " I knew everything. Heard it all, smelt it all. Only way I knew Illy and Berto almost... You know, because even if Illy left minutes ago, she still smelt. " 

Illyana hummed, being very amused. " Question. " 

" Possible answer. " 

" What do we all smell like? " Illy asked, being oddly interested in this. 

" You? Rusted metal. Sam? Ash. Berto? Hot spicy food. Dani? " She paused for a second, sniffing. " Socks she hasn't taken off in days. " 

Dani facepalmed. " Nice try, but I haven't worn socks in days. " 

Rahne hit her knuckles against the concrete alley way's ground. " I did not know that. " 

Illyana laughed, getting exactly what she wanted. " I knew it! I knew you wouldn't say it! " 

" Fine! Salt. " 

" My my, Rahne, I never knew you could lie twice in a row! " 

" It's embarrassing. " 

Dani just huffed, flopping back. " I like Sam's idea. " 

* * *

" Xi'an, Amara, Doug, Izzy. " 

" Oi. " 

" Hello, Professor. " 

" Mhm. " 

...

" So I was thinking, you're all pretty good friends, right? " Xavier asked, and if he had a mustache, he'd probably be twirling it like some cartoon villain. Maybe he'd grow one just to start doing that to his students. 

" Yeah, we are. " 

" I'd say so. " 

" Mhm. " 

" Yes. " 

Xavier hummed in approval. " Okay, good. With this new information, I'm going to put you in a squad. " 

The young teenagers lit at the idea. They hadn't been in any yet, and no talk of putting them in any had happened, so they were... The kids these days called it, 'hype,' whatever it meant. 

" It's called, the New Mutants. " Xavier began explaining. "There are already a few kids in i-- " 

" New Mutants?! " Amara exclaimed. " Professor... " 

" Yes, their possibly the wanted children, but-- " 

" But?! " Doug was shocked. " Aren't those kids-- " 

_Okay okay, breathe._ Xavier's voice came in their heads, because he knew if he went out loud he'd get cut off.

The teenagers quieted down. 

" Okay, yes, the other members of this squad are the fugitive children responsible for Milbury Hospital. " 

_And other things._ Xi'an muttered in the other three kids' heads. 

" Why? " Doug was polite enough to ask, but still seemed to dread the very idea like the others. 

" They're not bad kids, just a bit off track. You're all around the same age, and you'll get along pretty well with them. And we reckon you could help them with their powers, and you could get a lot of help with your overall fighting prowess from those kids. " 

The four couldn't argue those points, even if they were a mix of horrified, wondering, and confused. 

" Anyway, out of you all, Xi'an, your the most responsible, as such, you will be the Co-Leader of the New Mutants, alongside whoever the other kids decide on. " Xavier notified, smiling warmly at the teens.

They looked uncertain, but all nodded. 

" Thank you. " Xi'an said, even with a mix of conflicting emotions over this, she was _very_ honored to be the Co-Leader of a team. She'd heard some older kids talk about it when she was younger, and it was something if Xavier trusted you to take so much responsibility. 

" Why do our powers suddenly feel very boring? " Doug huffed, taking one last look at the paper about Illyana. 

" Because they are now. " Izzy sarcastically responded, though she was clearly not actually looking at the powers section of Samuel's paper, clearly just his face. 

Xi'an coughed. " Look down Izzy. "

" Oh I'd _love_ to look further down--- " 

" _Not_ what I meant! " 

Doug and Amara slowly started inching out of the common room and into the hall.

* * *

Sam watched on as Dani and Berto locked in a heavy debate as to who of them had the best/hardest to understand accent out of Illy and Rahne, because they'd already eliminated themselves and Sam. He would've interrupted and mentioned that _no,_ for most his southern accent _was_ sometimes hard to understand, but it was so rare that Dani and Berto even talked that he couldn't interrupt. 

Meanwhile, Rahne and Illy were stuck in a deep conversation on something Sam couldn't quite get. Illy was still babbling on that Rahne was 340% lying about what Dani smelt like, while also tossing random, as she called them, "alternate universe facts." Every once in a while, she said something _really_ made them pay attention and all shut up to start asking, but most of the time they were just random. Rahne was also adamant on never giving Illy the power to tease her by revealing what Dani smelt like. 

To be honest, it was elegant. Good therapy? No. Good family? 

Hell yeah. 

Seriously though. Illy, Rahne, and Dani all reminded Sam of his sisters, and Berto couldn't remind him of Jebediah more. Though at the same time, their so different from them and that's what makes it nice.

What's three more sisters and another brother? What? It's not like he doesn't already have 8,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 

So what's the big deal with 8,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,004?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I've finally introduced the rest of the main cast! HECK YEAH! 
> 
> Yep, I made Izzy a mutant. I changed that up because while I referenced the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D, I'm not too tempted to merge it that much. Gonna keep this purely X-Men. So yeah, I made Izzy a mutant, with similar powers to what she has in the comics, but like... Their mutant powers now... So... Yeah.


	10. Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get into Illy’s backstory a bet, so there’s some dark shit in this one, you’ve been warned. 
> 
> But honestly it’s not to bad since it lacks detail, but just a heads up. 
> 
> The only major thing is the slight implication of self-harm. 
> 
> This is all in the italics toward the end of you want to skip it.

Roberto may have acted as the group idiot, but he was more self-aware than the others would give him credit for. 

So he wondered, how were his friends who were much smarter than him, not figuring this out? No one stares intently at a rock. Not even Dani.

He knew what she was doing, he wasn't that dumb. It wasn't a secret exactly. Was he really the only one who knew? Illyana would be pissed, Rahne would be hurt and Sam... Okay, he doesn't know Sam's reaction, but it's probably not good. 

Though to be fair, they all sometimes just started staring off into the distance. Especially when that shitty PTSD would bite them in the ass. 

He didn't know how bad his teammates' was, but he knew they had it. Especially with Illyana, Sam, and Dani, because their powers were explosive. Sometimes literally. 

That's why he liked Rahne, even he was always calling her 'Doggy.' Maybe her eyes would change color, or her canine teeth would be more prominent, maybe her fingernails would be a bit sharper. But Rahne never blew anything up when she had some memories get jabbed. 

Berto wasn't appreciating.

They'd been in New York for 4 days now, relying on garbage food and scraps. 

Maybe Rahne could hide her reactions well.

The other four could not. 

Even with the progress Dani had made with using her powers on others, everyone knew she still struggled with control over her own fears. 

She'd give herself nightmares, and then unintentionally give the others nightmares too.

Suddenly grins too wide, priests too fat, girls too pretty and men covered in ash plagued their dreams. 

It sucked yeah, but even if Dani no longer unwittingly created physical versions of their fears, it still scared them. 

Berto had woken plenty of times feeling like he ran a marathon. Sam had always _"somehow"_ rolled ten feet in his sleep, which left a trail of ash. Rahne's eyes had recently began to be a natural gold. 

Illyana was the worst. 

She didn't need Dani's help to have PTSD fueled nightmares. 

* * *

" You royally fucked up. "

...

" _Okçu._ " 

Archer piped up. His name in his own native language had just been used, which meant this was a bit more than a serious conversation. The man who lead Essex, who'd nicknamed himself "Rook," absolutely _hated_ speaking Turkish. Which was the first red flag. 

" Yes, I have... Sir. " 

" Well, I just said that, didn't I? " 

" You did. " 

" I thought so. " Rook spat back, not even turning in his chair to look at Archer. " I nicknamed myself Rook because I knew I'd be a central player, but I'd need others. I'm starting to think that was a bad choice. Your team's record has significantly been dropping lately, " Rook noted.

" Well-- " 

" _Don't_ cut me off. " 

" Yes sir. " 

" As I was saying................. " 

  
" How'd it go with, _the boss_? " Riley sarcastically asked, smirking. 

Archer shrugged, gesturing to his bloody nose and forming black-eye. " Absolutely wonderful. " 

Riley snorted and went back to reading her Berserk manga. 

"Wow, thanks. " 

" Your welcome big bro. " 

" Don't call me that. " 

" Why not? You and Nathan are basically married anyway, that pretty much makes you my older brother-in-law. " 

Nathan piped up at the words, 'married,' and, 'brother-in-law.' " No he is not! "

" I mean she's not wrong-- " 

" Silence Caspian! Just get over here and cuddle, I wanna go to sleep. " Nathan huffed, patting the bed beside him.

" Oh, _now_ we cuddle? I thought you only wanted me in your bed if we were doing the dee--"

" Will all three of you go the fuck to sleep?! " Blake cut everyone off, annoyed, because she'd been on the brink of sleep before the talking started. 

" Oh we'll fuck alrig--"

" Seriously? " 

" Don't, _seriously_ me. We share a room with you girls too, you know. Just because we look asleep, doesn't mean we are. " 

The Cooper twins, Nathan and Riley, shared horrified looks. 

In contrast, Blake had a completely straight face.

_" Maybe I wanted you to hear. "_

* * *

As the jet took off, mixed emotions filled the small space. 

Piotr couldn't stop tapping his foot if he tried. You'd have had to weld the metal of his foot to the floor to stop him, and no one exactly planned on that. 

Xi'an, Amara, Doug, and Izzy had been shitting themselves. It was reasonable to assume they were scared, but it was absurd. They seemed _petrified._ They were probably pacing in their rooms right now, wondering if their mentors and teachers would be okay. 

Ellie had made a mental note to slap them all on the back of the head later for the way they were acting. 

But one thing was common. No one knew what to expect. At all.

They knew the powers of the original New Mutants, and some stuff about their personalities, but God knew how much about that last part was true in the first place. 

Illyana possessed the ability to jump through space, could summon a sword, teleport wherever, and possessed abilities not related to her Mutation. 

Samuel could hit it straight to 100, he shot off like a cannonball. 

Rahne was simple. She could turn into a wolf. She probably had the mildest power of the New Mutants. 

Roberto wasn't anything extremely complicated. He got a boost in physical strength from the sun, and could easily burn you. 

Danielle was simple, but scary as hell. The Mutant with the ability to make your greatest fears a reality. 

Hopefully, this would be easier than it sounded, after all, the plan did sound full proof, but who knew. The New Mutants were wild cards after all. 

* * *

Doug tapped his foot, alone in the common room as he watched the news, the headline stressed him out.

_'X-MEN CAPTURE MUTANTS SAMUEL GUTHRIE AND DANIELLE MOONSTAR'_

With a bunch of smaller headlines below it.

_'How are the other three?'_

_'What are their powers?'_

And finally-- 

"What did they do?" Xi'an chuckled, reading the bottom line.

Doug jumped, not having noticed her enter. "Hey Xi."

"Mornin' Ramsey." Xi'an nodded, leaning on the back of the couch, flashing him a smile before turning her attention back to the tv.

Doug returned the grin, but also went back to the television.

"Reports continue to filter in, but many say the only thing anyone could see in the park was a lot of colorful flashes and... A dog? Yes, a dog. Many captured video's on their devices of these Mutants, but none can seem to make out their abilities and/or identities. We'll continue to offer updates about the incident." The news lady stated, her words being subtitled. 

"Yo bitches! What's goin' on?" Came the voice of one Russel Collins. 

Doug groaned. "Why must you be so _vulgar_ about it?" 

"Why the fuck not?"

Xi'an groaned. "This is why I'm into women."

" _Gay!_ " Russel snorted. 

"Will both of you be quiet? I'm trying to watch."

"Why?" Russel asked, finally looking at the tv.

"It's our new teammates." Xi'an cut in, watching amusement swirl on Russel's face. 

The younger boy clicked his tongue, "well then you're fucked."

Doug paused the tv. "Stop cussing."

"No I'm being serious. Aren't they the Essex kids? I mean, you already don't like me, now you get five of me."

Xi'an was stunned.

There was no cussing in that sentence... Kid must be sick or something.

"For all I know you'll get stuck with us too."

Xi'an swatted Doug on the back of the head. "Asshole! Don't _jinx_ it!"

"Ow!"

Russel snorted. 

Doug rubbed the back of his head, but went back to watching the tv none the less.

"Okay... Were getting something now. It seems the identities of the Mutants have not yet been found save for Guthrie and Moonstar, but we do know the powers of one... One, a female, possesses the ability to transform into a wolf..."

"If I remember right, that's Rahne," Doug said to no one in particular.

"No shit Sherlock." Russel snickered, flopping onto the couch. 

"You vulgar boy... What are you, 5?"

"Actually no, I'm 14."

"Rhetorical question."

* * *

"So... How's the weather?" Sam asked, breaking the silence. 

"Sunnyside up." The woman named Moira answered, flipping a coin between her fingers.

"Like eggs?"

"Yeah."

Xavier cleared his throat and Sam was brought back to the present.

They were in the headmaster, Xaviers, office. Around them stood the same X-Men who'd previously managed to take them out.

NTW, Storm, Colossus, Jean, Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Iceman and Cyclops. At his desk rested Charles Xavier, while in the corner were four nervous teenagers around their ages.

"Welcome to the school. My names Xavier."

"We know." Roberto rolled his eyes. 

Before Xavier could speak again, Illyana piped up. 

" _Joyful_ as this is, who the Hell are you four idiots who can't look us in the eye?" The first half was sarcastic, though the last part ended with some genuine curiosity. 

The four in the corner jumped, having been called out.

Storm didn't care to baby them and dance on thin ice.

She was gonna be the one to break the ice.

If only she'd gotten too.

"The _other_ New Mutants."

Shocked stares all landed on Rahne, who smirked.

"Good ears. You should learn to whisper better."

"Oh Hell no." Sam knew what that meant, and so did the others.

Illyana moved a bit closer too her friends. "Remember what I did the other day?"

"Your not getting to today." 

What was gonna stop her?

Suddenly Nightcrawler was in front of her, grabbing her arm to keep her there. 

_Too many memories._

Rahne's voice was the last thing Illyana heard. 

"Bad idea--"

* * *

_"Look at me when I'm speaking, Illyana."_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"Did I ask you to speak?"_

_Illyana gulped, shaking her head._

_"Thought I was forgetting something, because I thought you knew respect. Clearly, I was wrong._ S'ym _."_

_Illyana tensed at the calling of the Demon's name._

_"Yeah?"_

_"I think Illyana has forgotten something... Something crucial..."_

_S'ym hummed in acknowledgment, something the young ten-year-old Illyana thought was stupid, because he listened to anything the other said._

_"Would you..._ Remind _her for me?"_

_S'ym softly chuckled. "If that's what you want." It wasn't much of a question._

_A sick smile crossed the man's face. "It is."_

_Unlike some Demon's, S'ym's tail was not for slashing, it was for hitting. Bashing. But he was the strongest Demon of Limbo who didn't sit on a throne and throw around a little girl.  
_

_He could do anything he wanted too.  
_

_And this was the story of the scars on Illyana’s arms and back.  
_

_  
”How the hell..? Pozha!”_

_”What?!” Came the loud complaint of the leader, as he began marching down the hall to Illyana’s “room.”_

_”Illyana’s got cuts on her wrist again!”_

_Pozha groaned as he swung the door open. “What the fuck does that kid keep cutting herself with?!”_

_“I don’t know, there’s nothing sharp in here!”_

_”I know that dimwit!”  
_

_”Sorry.”_

_”You know what? No. Illyana is no longer yours today, she’s mine. You get the boy... What’s his name again? Oh yeah, Athan.”_

_”Wait what-?”_

_”You heard me. Now go!”  
_

_Lukas gave a playful salute to Pozha before running out to Athan’s room. She didn’t know him, but according to all these jackasses, he was the best boy there.  
_

_”Now, Illyana, are you gonna tell me how you got those?” Pozha asked, roughly grabbing Illyana’s wrist and beginning to bandage it up.  
_

_The girl shook her head.  
_

_”No? Are you sure?”_

_Illyana nodded.  
_

_”Sad.” Pozha stated simply, snatching Lockheed, abandoning Illyana’s wrist and promptly beginning to leave.  
_

_”Wait!”  
_

_”Yes?”_

_Illyana then remembered the shiny silver Lukas had attached to his belt. “He... He did it.”  
_

_Pozha smiled. “That wasn’t so hard.” He said, ruffling Illyana’s hair and giving back Lockheed._ _”Good girl,” he muttered, “but I’m gonna go and find Lukas now.”_

_Any other child at the age of ten would have cared. Illyana didn’t._

_She didn’t quite mind that Lukas would die.  
_

_She’d seen death already. Demons mostly, but death. To her, Lukas was a Demon anyway.  
_

_A no-good fat-ass.  
_

_He was loud, patronizing, stupid, an idiot and he smelled bad. All the men there treated her like trash, but Lukas was worse than most.  
_

_Illyana was ten when she first let someone die._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I planned on putting Belasco in the next installment of this (which I haven't given a name yet,) but I decided I would foreshadow his appearance in the next one by using his voice and S'ym. 
> 
> Also yes, you heard right. Did you really think I could fit everything I wanted into 13 chapters? If I could shove in 3,000-5,000 words per chapter, than maybe. But I like to keep it 1,000-2,000 so everyone doesn't have to wait at least two months for a chapter. 
> 
> Anyway, yep, after Running From Who We Are, your gonna get another fic. And one after that. And hopefully not a forth, but hey, maybe. 
> 
> If anybody has a name idea for the next one, which will feature... "Rook" if your a comic fan I hope you get who that actually is... And Belasco as the main villains, along with Archer, Nathan, Riley and Blake as Rook's pawns and useless side villains, along with the New Mutants.
> 
> I'll also be adding a few New Mutants toward the end of the next one, being Russel (Firefist,) Tabitha (Boom-Boom,) and maybe Warlock. 
> 
> I was thinking, New Mutants Student Editon or, something that implies their students. But I really need suggestions, because my name idea sucks.


	11. Have A Team, Even If You Might Hate Them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think this is lighthearted compared to the last chapter, then I'm really gonna have fun playing with your emotions. 
> 
> Oh and by the way I shoved Tandy and Tyrone, who you may know as Cloak & Dagger, in here just for fun.

"So..." Doug broke the quiet silence.

"So..." Sam continued. 

"Good breaking the ice technique, Ramsey." Xi'an quipped, smirking. 

Rahne snorted because apparently, this amused her after an hour of it. 

"You socially awkward turtleduck."

"That's not a thing Izzy."

"You sure? I see one right now." Izzy smirked, staring directly into the blonde boy's eyes. 

Berto snickered. "Maybe you'd get along Sam."

"I'm not that bad!" Sam complained, reaching past Dani to swat Roberto. 

Amara cleared her throat. "Wait for a second, I think I finally found something all eight of us can talk about!" 

"Oh?"

"I thought his name was Samuel?"

Sam had a look of realization. "Well everybody else calls me Sam... Oh."

Amara grinned. "Exactly. See, the cannonball gets it."

You could hear a _fly fart_.

"...And the rest of you don't. I meant, what's everybody's name? We know your guys' but I feel like you didn't listen to ours."

Dani smirked. "What would make you think that?"

"You were more occupied with Illyana."

The original New Mutants shared some glances. "That kinda actually happens all the time."

Doug was shocked. "Wait what? Really?"

"More than you know..." Dani muttered, remembering the numerous times she's almost died by Illyana's hand. 

"Didn't catch that."

"Nothing." Dani shrugged, "now do please, inform us oh great X-Men students, what are your names?"

Amara groaned. "That wasn't all I wanted. Next, where do you come from? A bunch of us are from other countries, and if your a states kid, well there _are_ 50 of them. I'll start. My names Amara Aquilla, I turn into lava for a living, and _I_ born in Nova Roma." 

Doug whistled. "That place has too many names..."

"Well if you wanna mess around, your next Google Translate."

Doug huffed. "Doug. I'm practically Google Translate. Oregan."

Xi'an snickered. "Con khốn thầm lặng."

"I'm not translating that."

"Coward."

* * *

They'd all gotten through introductions of their full names, powers, and where they were born, and everything was going well. 

Till Quicksilver came bursting into the room.

"Yo! New kids! Your friend's waking up and none of us wanna be cut to death so please hurry!"

Dani thought about it for a second. "Yeah, that sounds like something Illy would do."

* * *

"In all my 17 years, I've fought Demons, normal Humans, other Mutants, Mutates, Dani, one crazy bitch of a doctor, and a Demon Bear. But school is where I draw a line."

Berto snorted.

Illyana facepalmed. "So let me get this straight."

"Your not straight Illy." Dani chuckled.

"Shut up Moonstar."

"Yes ma'am." Dani gave a sarcastic salute, which was even with the wrong hand, but only she and Sam would even know that, so Sam chose to stay quiet. 

Illyana rolled her eyes, looking past Dani. "Alright X-Asses, get out. Private conversation."

They all just stood there.

"Alright welp, I'm goin' to Limbo--"

They all started walking out of the room.

Illy smirked. "So if I'm getting this straight--"

"Again your _not._ "

"Dani, for the love of God, _let me finish._ So if I'm getting this _right,_ basically you signed us up for Mutant school?"

The others shared some glances.

"Now, technically, no. We said we'd talk about it with you."

Illyana groaned. "And I'm getting the vibe you all want to stay?"

"Define vibe." Sam shrugged.

Illyana had a deadpan.

"Okay, yeah we do."

Illyana huffed, clicking her tongue. "I don't like the idea, but since all of you do, I'll give it a chance."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Rahne smiled. "Alright, cool. Now I'm gonna kill the elephant in the room."

Everyone looked at Rahne, confused.

"I told you to learn how to whisper quieter! Good ears!" Rahne shouted, turning back to the door of the room.

It _slowly_ opened.

"So your staying?" Doug asked, peeking his head through.

"What made you think that?"

Who knew Rahne was capable of sarcasm?

* * *

Ellie slapped Piotr on the shoulder. "Chicken ass."

"It's completely reasonable to have cold feet, but take a breath, Peter." Jean encouraged.

Piotr groaned into his hands. "This is anything but cold feet."

"Remember what Wade says?"

"When did you start quoting Wade?"

Ellie huffed. "Not important. Anyway, get the pity dick out of your--"

" _Enough_ , I hate that quote."

Ellie shrugged. "Yeah, I think everyone does. Either way, get it together."

"Mhm." Piotr hummed, rather unconvincingly.

"For your brother."

Piotr sighed. "For Mik."

"Exactly."

* * *

_"One day, you will understand."_

_"Who will watch over me when you're gone?" Piotr, the young idiot 12-year old that he was, had asked._

_"No matter how far away I am, know that I will always be watching over_ _you,_ _Piotr._ **Always.** _Just look to the stars and know I am looking back."_

Piotr had remembered that day like yesterday. The day before Mikhail's final mission. The day he'd left his siblings for the last time, cheerfully saying, _"I shall return! Don't steal my stuff."_

Illyana hadn't listened. She'd rocketed across the house to Mik's room and immediately taken that dragon puppet of his. 

_"Thief."_ Piotr had muttered, which made Illyana stick her tongue out at him. 

Piotr sighed, remembering the dirty looks the New Mutants had given him after he tried talking to Illyana. 

He'd reached out to touch her, and the taller boy, Roberto, had moved between them at lightning speeds. _"No touching the artwork."_ Piotr was too caught up to realize Roberto was flirting with Illyana.

Piotr had never really believed in gods, but if there was some higher power at play here, it was clearly playing cruel tricks on him.

Like an idiot, he'd said, _"Illyana, please."_

She'd scoffed, and even with her back turned to him Piotr bet Illyana had rolled her eyes. _"Please what, huh?"_

_"Прости, снежинка моя."_

Illyana's words had been caught in her throat for a few moments before she said...

_"Лжец."_

* * *

"I hate this class." Izzy decided, flopping back in her chair.

Xi'an snickered, "why?"

"Why in the living Hell do I need to list everything Roxxon owns? Do they expect us to fail? This is gonna take ages."

"I told you not to take it." Xi'an sighed, going back to her phone. 

"Like what? Is the professor trying to make me out their dirty secrets too?"

Xi'an chuckled. "I'm pretty sure someone's already outed their dirty secrets." 

"That suit really brings out the trafficker in your ey--" Tandy sneezed, having her sentence cut off. 

Tyrone smirked. "That was lame."

"Well fine, next time I'll leave you to make the badass quotes, alright?"

"Point taken--"

"Hello?! We're in the middle of a fight!"

Tandy blinked. "We'll finish this later. Now? Back to this bastard."

"Yes ma'am." Ty gave a playful salute before vanishing into a cloud of darkness.

Tandy rolled her eyes, preparing to become one very stabby bitch. 

* * *

"So is it just me? Or are they lesbians?" Ellie asked, looking at something on her phone.

Yukio snorted, stopping what she was doing, to look at her girlfriend. "You'd know the signs."

"Not what I meant. But seriously, is it just me, or are those Dani and Rahne girls totally gay for each other?" Ellie wondered aloud, looking up from her phone.

"Not just you, they really are into one another. You think they know it?" 

Ellie shrugged. "Eh, who knows." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I'm dedicated too these last few chapters foreshadowing all the future antagonists and characters.
> 
> I literally showed the two side characters for the third installment... Is this even foreshadowing anymore if I always show the characters anyway?
> 
> Piotr's line in Russian is: "I'm sorry, my little snowflake."
> 
> Illy's line back is simple, she says: "Liar."
> 
> And yes I know this is short and totally not great, but I'm gonna make up for it with the next one and the finale!  
> Finale will be angst-filled and no, happy endings do not exist.


End file.
